Is Your Family 'Time-Starved'?

Sports, dance, gymnastics, music lessons, church meetings, school and school activities...not to mention homework, laundry, cooking, dishes, chores, family home evening, prayers, scripture study and, well, sleep. Did I just give you  anxiety and/or a panic attack?

If so, your family may be suffering from starvation--of time. Do you wish there was more time in the day so you could 'eat it up' with more activities and responsibilities?

Stop right there.

Back up.

Reevaluate.

What is most important?

I just finished reading The Time-Starved Family by DeAnne Flynn. In her book, Flynn suggests that we all need to slow down, simplify and focus on what matters most. In this case of family, what matters most is getting our family 'prepared to meet God.' As a mother of 7 children, Flynn is very busy (even without extra activities). Her family decided to cut down on activities and then to focus on living the Gospel of Jesus Christ and making things like scripture study, family home evening, family prayers, and eating as a family the priority. She also makes some really smart suggestions for getting children to do their part around the house, keeping organized and teaching your children how to serve--and love it!

As a mother of 6 kids myself, I found all of these ideas very useful. Luckily, we do not have all of the activities right now--however, last school year, we had one child in ballet, one in gymnastics, two in soccer and two also taking piano lessons (on top of that scouts and activity days to also schedule around). It felt so frantic. It was actually a relief to have a good reason why we couldn't do it this year (my husband had lost his job in May).

I found some really good inspiration from her words on organizing and helping teach kids to clean and most importantly, making God a priority and getting home to Him an attainable goal.

Go get yourself a copy, get your kids a copy, and get one for your busy friends. The Time Starved-Family is available on Amazon, at Deseret Book and even as an eBook or Kindle version.

Watch an interview with her here: http://www.abc4.com/content/news/top_stories/story/The-Time-Starved-Family/WvloFTBawkekca327HDLow.cspx 

Realign your family with what is important, what really matters, and what is ultimately going to make them become a successful human being--and more importantly who God knows we can become. Focus on eternity, not just the here and now.

© Wendy 2013