Planner University: Homemaking - Part One

Do you have your first divider labeled as "homemaking?" I hope so, because that's the section we are working in, today.

A great first page inside the homemaking section is "Daily Chores." This is where you will have a list of all cleaning chores, laundry chores, and other little chores you'll be doing day to day. First, make a list of all the types of laundry you need to get done each week. For example:

Weekly Laundry

Bedding laundry

Towel and washcloth laundry

Girls' laundry (Older girls do their own. Start training for this at age 5)

Grown up laundry

Boys' laundry (Older boys do their own. Start training for this at age 5)

Animal laundry (dog blankets, sheets under rabbit cages, etc.)

Uniform/work laundry for any older, working children (generally ages 16 and up)

Next, divide up your weekly laundry tasks for each week day. Try to take the weekends off, if you can. For example:

Laundry Schedule

Mondays - Bedding laundry

Tuesdays - Towel and Washcloth laundry, and any pet laundry

Wednesdays - Girls' laundry - older girls do their own

Thursdays - Grown up laundry

Fridays - Boys' laundry - older boys do their own

Uniform/work laundry done by its owner whenever needed, or every Friday.

You now have a laundry schedule that you will be putting into your planner shortly. First, let's determine a daily cleaning schedule, and a few other things...

In putting together a weekly/daily cleaning schedule, instead of thinking of your house as room by room, think of it as what cleaning tasks need to be done one or more times a week. For example:

Cleaning Tasks that Need to be Done Once or More a Week:

Dusting

Mirrors

Appliances

Surfaces

Sinks

Toilets

Tubs/showers

Sweeping

Mopping

Vacuuming

Once you have your list, divide the tasks up for which day you will do which tasks. I suggest you divide most or all of your tasks up between four weekdays, and leave one weekday open for appointments, errands, and getting groceries.

For example, if you like to get groceries on Fridays, which may be your husband's pay day, then your cleaning task list may look like the following:

Daily Cleaning Tasks

Mondays - Dusting, Mirrors, Appliances

Tuesdays - Surfaces and sinks

Wednesdays - Toilets and tubs/showers

Thursdays - Sweep, mop, and vacuum

What other daily to do type of stuff do you need to add? Here are a few suggestions:

Other Tasks

Bathe animals

Clean animal areas/cages

Special baking

Special cleaning/organizing projects

Office work (work on planner, plan menu for the week, make a grocery list, work on the budget)

Daily house tidies (including wiping bathrooms and kitchen)

Daily special dusting

Daily quick vacuuming

Now let's put all of this stuff together. Below is a sample Daily Chores page, built off of the above examples:

Daily Chores

Mondays
Do bedding laundry
Tidy the house (wipe bathrooms and kitchen, as well)
Thoroughly dust through out the house
Quick vacuum the high traffic areas
Clean mirrors
Clean all kitchen and laundry appliances
Clean cages/living areas of animals

Tuesdays
Towel and washcloth laundry, and any animal laundry (sheets under cages, dog blankets, etc.)
Tidy the house (wipe bathrooms and kitchen, as well)
Dust main living areas
Quick vacuum the high traffic areas
Clean all surfaces and sinks in kitchen, bathrooms, etc.
Bathe any animals that need it, such as the family dog
Extra baking, such as making bread

Wednesdays
Girls' laundry (older girls do their own)
Tidy the house (wipe bathrooms and kitchen, as well)
Dust main living areas
Quick vacuum the high traffic areas
Thoroughly scrub all toilets
Clean all showers/tubs
Spend 15 or more minutes on a special cleaning or organization project

Thursdays
Grown up laundry
Tidy the house (wipe bathrooms and kitchen, as well)
Dust main living areas
Sweep and mop all hard floors
Vacuum all rugs and carpeted areas
Office work (work on planner, plan menu for the week, make a grocery list, go over the budget)

Fridays
Boys' laundry (older boys do their own)
Tidy the house (wipe bathrooms and kitchen, as well)
Dust main living areas
Quick vacuum the high traffic areas
Get groceries and run errands
Clean or give attention to any animal cages or areas that need it

Saturdays
Tidy the house (wipe bathrooms and kitchen, as well)
Dust main living areas
Quick vacuum the high traffic areas
Spend 15 or more minutes on a special cleaning or organization project, if you have the time

Sundays
Tidy the house (wipe bathrooms and kitchen, as well)

Now it's time to write, or type up your Daily Chores page. You can print it, if you'd like:

Don't feel like you have to print out any pages for your planner, because you don't. Many ladies enjoy hand writing all of their pages, and that is great:

Once you have your Daily Chores page done, put it into your planner, as the first page in your homemaking section, and follow it. If you want to type up pages for your planner, and print them out, you can do so, just tweak the printer settings to print your pages as 2 pages per sheet of paper. Or, if you are printing out a lot of pages, you can see about setting it to print as a booklet, and that way it'll print out on half sheets of paper, and doubled sided for you, already.

You would fold the printout over, like a booklet, then cut the folded spine off, and you'll have a stack of half sheets of paper already collated in the proper order, and double sided. Then use a disc punch, or a regular hole punch in the fashion described in the first installment in this series, to punch the pages.

If you wish to hand write your pages, then you may want to use official discbound filler paper, such as the nice Martha Stewart or Arc paper that can be found at Staples stores. Feel free to doodle, use washi tape, stamps, stickers, and anything else you'd like to pizazz it up, if you'd like.

Build Your Foundation on the Rock of Salvation

The terms "Christian" and "personal relationship with Jesus Christ" have been thrown around so much, that for many people, they have lost their original savor. What is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Is it going to church? Is it being a "good person?" Is it via doing certain rituals, or following certain traditions? No, it is so much simpler than that.

Jesus says:

"Look! I’m standing at the door and knocking. If any hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to be with them, and will have dinner with them, and they will have dinner with me." -Revelation 3:20 CEB

Let Jesus into your heart and life. Put your faith and trust in Him, and in Him alone.

Why did Jesus Christ come to this earth? He came to pay for our sins. Have you ever broken any of the Ten Commandments? Did you know that Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount that just looking at someone with lust in your heart is the same thing as committing adultery in your heart?

Many people will say I'm a good person. Sure, I've stolen a few paper clips in my time, and I've told some lies, but I've never killed anyone, so I'm good enough for heaven. Don't be so sure. Have you ever felt hatred toward someone? If so, then you are guilty of committing murder in your heart:

"Everyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that murderers don’t have eternal life residing in them." -1 John 3:15 CEB

If you have stolen, lied, lusted after someone, hated someone, loved someone or something more than God, etc., then you have broken at least 5 of the Ten Commandments. Do you really think you'd make it to heaven? Not according to God's Word:

"Don’t you know that people who are unjust won’t inherit God’s kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Those who are sexually immoral, those who worship false gods, adulterers, both participants in same-sex intercourse, thieves, the greedy, drunks, abusive people, and swindlers won’t inherit God’s kingdom." -1 Corinthians 6:9-10 CEB

But there is good news:

"That is what some of you used to be! But you were washed clean, you were made holy to God, and you were made right with God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." -1 Corinthians 6:11 CEB

We are all sinners:

"All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory" -Romans 3:23 CEB

Even Mary, the woman chosen by God to be a vessel that would carry Jesus in her womb, was a sinner, and in need of a Savior:

"In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior." - Mary said this in Luke 1:47 (CEB). Only sinners need a Savior, and Mary also accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior.

We are all imperfect, fallible sinners:

"This is the message that we have heard from him and announce to you: “God is light and there is no darkness in him at all.” If we claim, “We have fellowship with him,” and live in the darkness, we are lying and do not act truthfully. But if we live in the light in the same way as he is in the light, we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin. If we claim, “We don’t have any sin,” we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." -1 John 1:5-8 CEB

The blood of Jesus Christ is what cleanses us from all sins. Jesus came to this earth to die to pay for our sins. You see, Leviticus tells us that 'the life is in the blood,' and that it takes spilt blood to atone for sin.

When we choose to truly believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and to live our lives for Christ, then Christ's spilt blood cleanses us from our sins:

"Come now, and let’s settle this, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow. If they are red as crimson, they will become like wool." -Isaiah 1:18 CEB

Jesus tells us this:

"God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him isn’t judged; whoever doesn’t believe in him is already judged, because they don’t believe in the name of God’s only Son." - Jesus said this, in John 3:16-18 (CEB)

Paul gives us a simple "step by step process" on how to be saved:

"Because if you confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord” and in your heart you have faith that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Trusting with the heart leads to righteousness, and confessing with the mouth leads to salvation. The scripture says, All who have faith in him won’t be put to shame." -Romans 10:9-11 CEB

Jesus is our one and only mediator:

"There is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, the human Christ Jesus" -1 Timothy 2:5 CEB

Jesus is our High Priest:

"Also, let’s hold on to the confession since we have a great high priest who passed through the heavens, who is Jesus, God’s Son; because we don’t have a high priest who can’t sympathize with our weaknesses but instead one who was tempted in every way that we are, except without sin." -Hebrews 4:14-15 CEB

We are to follow the Lord and the Bible, not traditions of people:

"Jesus replied, “Why do you break the command of God by keeping the rules handed down to you?" -Matthew 15:3 CEB

Jesus is God:

"Without question, the mystery of godliness is great: he was revealed as a human, declared righteous by the Spirit, seen by angels, preached throughout the nations, believed in around the world, and taken up in glory." -1 Timothy 3:16 CEB

If Jesus isn't the Lord of your life, then I hope that you will let Him into your heart and life this very moment.

"But God shows his love for us, because while we were still sinners Christ died for us." -Romans 5:8 CEB

Have you built your foundation on the Rock of Salvation?

Jesus is the way. If you would like to receive Jesus into your heart and life, then let Him know. Pray to the Lord, telling Him that you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and that you believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay the death penalty for your sins. Tell this to God in your own words, from your heart.

"The wages that sin pays are death, but God’s gift is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." -Romans 6:23 CEB

Believe, and Receive:

"You too heard the word of truth in Christ, which is the good news of your salvation. You were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit because you believed in Christ." -Ephesians 1:13 CEB

When you believe on Jesus Christ, you receive the Holy Spirit. You are sealed as a child of God.

If you have accepted Jesus Christ into your heart and life as your Lord and Savior, and you believe that Jesus died on the cross in your place, to pay the death penalty for your sins, and that Christ rose from the dead three days later, and you are ready to let Him lead your life, and you will live for Him, then you are saved, and born again.

You are now a saved Child of God, with the Holy Spirit living within you. Dedicate your life to the Lord, and live for Him. Please get a Bible (I suggest the Common English Bible - CEB) and turn to the Gospel of John. That is the fourth book in the New Testament. If you don't have a Bible, then you can read it for free, online - here.

After you've read the Gospel of John, go on to read Acts, and then Romans. These three books will bring you through the Gospel, the early church, and basic Christian doctrine. After you've read these three, then turn to the beginning of the New Testament, and read it all the way through. After that, read both the Old and New Testaments.

You should also follow the Lord and get baptized in water. A Believer's Baptism doesn't save you. Only faith in Christ saves you. A Believer's Baptism is an outward showing of your salvation. It symbolizes you being born again. When you are lowered under the water, it shows you dying to your old self, and when you are raised up out of the water, it symbolizes you being born again, as a new creature in Christ. This is called a Believer's Baptism, because, according to the Bible, a person is supposed to get baptized after they have believed on Christ. Anyone who was "baptized" before having faith in Christ just got wet - nothing more. You don't need to find a church to get baptized in. Any born again Christian can baptize you in any acceptable body of water - even a public swimming pool.

Find a good, local church congregation to attend. Search in your area for a Nazarene church, Foursquare church, or non-denominational Full-Gospel church.

Immerse yourself in the Bible. The Bible is God's love letter to you. It is also your Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.