As a homeschool mom, life just got a whole lot busier! The boys are in 11th grade this year and we have a full schedule to say the least! Do you ever feel like you just have too many hats to wear? To be honest, some days I wonder how I’m going to juggle it all – especially when my heart’s desire is to do everything with an excellence that pleases the Lord.
From experience, I’ve learned that preparation is key to accomplishing what I need to do with less stress and with greater excellence. Thankfully, I began to prepare before school started this year. Things like organizing our closets, desks and pantry so we would have what we need on hand, preparing healthy meals and snacks ahead of time and writing and sticking to my to-do list were all part of the preparation that helped me to get through these first few weeks of school without getting completely overwhelmed. These things help me to manage my time more efficiently, and actually accomplish what sometimes seems impossible. Occasionally however, it IS impossible to do it all, but at least I know I’ve done my best and with excellence. That’s when I’m really thankful to God for moments like this (see pic below). My awesome hubby came home last week and folded my laundry for me. He sure knows the way to this girl’s heart! 
Seeing those clothes folded on my chair made my heart beat with greater love for him! Lol. But for reals!
Anyway, back to preparation! Doing anything with excellence takes preparation, doesn’t it? God tells us in His Word, to be good stewards over the life He’s given us, but I believe when we love God and recognize His goodness, our desire to do things with excellence is a given.
This week as I spent a few hours preparing some meals ahead of time, an old worship song came to mind. It goes…
Lord prepare me
To be a sanctuary
Pure and Holy
Tried and true
As I sang, I was reminded that all throughout the Old Testament, the Lord spoke about preparing a sanctuary for Him to dwell. He wasn’t willing to settle for any old place, for left overs, or for second best. He is a holy God, worthy of all honor and praise (See Exodus 25). Things changed though, after Jesus came. WE became that sanctuary the Lord desires to dwell in – Our bodies, our hearts, our very lives!.
1 Corinthians 3:16 says, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” And just like God desired his people to prepare a sanctuary for Him in the Old Testament, God is looking for us, His people, to prepare and consecrate our lives unto Him as a sanctuary for Him to dwell. This takes preparation. Life can get busy, so we have an important choice to make. Do we give God our left overs, our second best, or a half-hearted effort after all else in our lives? Or do we give Him our very best?
Understanding God is a Holy God and recognizing we’re the very place He desires to dwell should compel us to prepare. For me, that means waking up earlier to spend time with God. I want to give God my first and best – not my left overs. It also means listening to His voice daily and following after Him however He leads. Maybe that means I need to repent when I fall short. Often it means laying down my own wants and desires and saying, “Not my will, but Yours Lord.” We may lose sight at times, but the Holy Spirit is always faithful to bring things back into perspective. The amazing thing is, that when we choose to prepare and consecrate our lives unto God, our entire lives become a worship unto Him.
So while making meatloaf, doing the laundry, teaching our boys, being a wife, or doing administrative work may not seem like I’m worshiping God to you, it surely is, when I do it unto the Lord with a heart of excellence! And so is your life, as you too, do all unto Him. Nothing pleases God more than when our lives become His beautiful dwelling place. So as you begin this week, I pray that like me, your desire to be prepared would increase so that all we do would be a sweet fragrance to God.
