I had a home management routine that was working pretty well for me. I’d miss a day here and there but things never got really out of hand. That is, until I hit a little “bump” in the plan. Literally.

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Shortly after I made my last blog post in early September (sorry, I know it’s been much too long!) we found out we were expecting our second child. A huge blessing! We were overjoyed. But it wasn’t long before the fatigue and all-day nausea kicked in. For about 2 months there, chasing a toddler around was about all the activity I could handle, and I was lucky if I got one other thing done in a day. The smell of most foods made me gag, so cooking was out. Vegetables became the enemy. And climbing up the stairs left me so winded that I had to lay down on the floor for a minute before I could change a diaper. So what’s a girl to do with her perfectly-designed home management routines when her body and brain have kicked into survival mode?

Shouts of grace, grace to it! (Zechariah 4:7)

I needed to have extreme measures of grace for myself. The kind of grace that says, “your to-do list is not the law, and that’s not what’s important right now”. For that season, my top priorities were keeping my toddler safe and happy, nourishing and resting my body and the growing baby inside, and making sure my husband had food, clothing, etc. Sticking to a rigid plan to keep my home looking nice was not an option. When I found the energy to do something above and beyond the necessities, I would do it. And if I needed direction, I had my trusty list for ideas of chores I could chip away at. But I have no regrets about skipping my daily routines when I wasn’t up for it.

A plan is meant to be just that- a plan. Not a law. When we can benefit from having a structured, consistent set of routines, it can be very helpful. For me that is most of the time. When that’s not the case, let the plan loosely guide us as time and circumstances allow, keeping our goals and priorities in plain site.

I am thankful for a plan to remind me and guide me, and for an extra helping of grace to tide me over when I need it.