Putting Together a Rule of Life..... Balancing Martha and Mary

A rule of life is usually followed by a "religious" someone who is a member of an order of some kind, a monk, a nun or a friar for instance, but it can be incredibaly useful for someone like me who finds it difficult to keep balance in her life.

I could quite easily spend all day in prayer and bible study and I love to go on retreats to do just that.

When I first became a Christian that's just about what I did. I went to church on Sunday sometimes twice a day, Monday was Bible Study, or church council, Tuesday I helped with one of the childrens groups, Wednesday was nurture group, Thursday was choir practice and Friday I helped with another childrens group. Then when I was home it was more bible reading and study I also ran a praying parents group. Poor husband thought he had been deserted!

So it is very easy for me to swing so far towards Mary that there is no room for Martha.

Now I know that Jesus said that Mary had chosen the better part, but I know that my calling as a wife and a mother involves more than the spiritual.

So to help me divide my time between Mary and Martha I set up my own "private" yahoo group..... there are no members but me and you cant see it on a search.

I use the calendar on that to send myself reminders about everything!

I have my day split into sections and have a reminder for each:-

Up to 10 am ......... Morning Routine (including prayers and readings)
Up to 1 pm ......... Homemaking (I do a different "zone" each day)
Up to 2.30 ...... Lunch Break (including bible reading with my son)
Up to 5pm ...... Quiet time (including 3 o'clock prayer)
Up to 6.30 ....... Dinner preparation (including greeting my husband home from work)
Up to 8pm ........ Dinner and chat (with the family)
Up to 9pm ........ Kitchen clean up (including defrosting for tomorrow and packing my husbands lunch)
After 9pm ......... Bedtime routine (including night prayer)

These reminders have more detail than shown here.

I also have reminders for weekly and monthly things etc

Much cheaper than a secretary!

I don't consider these times set in stone, but as I always say if you don't have a plan you can't have a change of plan.