Single Moms: Simplify Your Life!
- Lori Little Hope & Help for the Single Mom
- Published May 23, 2005
There are three words that describe a single moms life; do, do, do. It seems that life does not stop for a mere second with all that we are responsible for. It is easy to forget what is really important in life; the children that God has blessed us with.
We must learn as single moms that the people in our home are more important than the place. It is so easy to get caught up in all the chores, cooking, cleaning, laundry and places that we have to go and be at, that we neglect to spend the necessary time with our children.
Debbie, a single mom with two children, is a neat freak. From the minute she gets up until she goes to bed, she is "doing" something around the house. She is either vacuuming, wiping floors and counters, sweeping, dusting or cleaning out the car. Now, that is not a bad thing, and God requires excellence in our home. But what is wrong is that she puts the "doing" around her home above just "being" with the children in her home.
Single moms frequently make things harder on ourselves than they really are. Yet, it is possible to live a quiet, simple life as 1Thesssalonians 4:11 instructs us to do. "And to make it your ambition to lead a quite life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you." We must learn to keep things simple in life to keep our homes calm and peaceful.
For example, instead of cleaning the entire house on one designated day, break the process up into different areas that you work at for only fifteen minutes each day. And do the chores with your children if they are old enough. This will give you time together and teach them how to take care of their home in the future.
My son, Eric, and I dust the house on Monday, we vacuum on Tuesday, clean his bathroom on Wednesday, clean my bathroom on Thursday and mop and sweep the floors on Friday. This allows us to have more time together on the weekend to enjoy some time together doing something fun like riding our bikes together.
Keep everything that you do as simple as possible. Simplicity actually saves time and money, but most importantly, simplicity reserves your sanity. Learn to enjoy the people first while taking care of your place.
Lori Little, A Woman By Design ministry's founder, is the former Director of John C. Maxwell's THRiVE!, Becoming A Woman Of Influence. A major focus of Lori's ministry is the Hope and Help for the Single Mom initiative. Watch for Lori's book Hope and Help for the Single Mom, by Waterbrook Press, in 2005.
Dr. Charles Stanley says of the 21 Principles:
"If a single mom will follow these 21 Principles, there is no way for her to fail. She will watch herself grow in her own strength and abilities and become more confident as the leader of her home.
The 21 Principles of a Healthy Single Mom is a practical asset for single mothers to apply specific, workable, successful guidelines to her life."
