What I learned from my Grandma’s to-do list.

I’m sorry. Again. I feel like this Spring has been a string of apologies for once again neglecting this poor blog space. We’re coming up on 9 years of consistently writing in this space, and it’s never been this hit-and-miss. *sigh* That isn’t to say I’ve been slacking. I wish faithful housecleaning could translate into a blog post, because for the first time in my life I’m following a cleaning schedule and sticking with it! For 6 weeks people! My house is finally consistently clean and I’m not overwhelmed and I don’t have to scamper to prepare for company. And we finally have a chore system that works for the kids, and can now manage to get through schoolwork (mostly) without tears.

Can we just celebrate the little victories??? 

Plus, let’s see… we bought a house, sold ours, made a massive 2-household move, crammed in a bunch of speaking engagements, then … WROTE A BOOK …  then stayed with my parents for 10 days because our house wasn’t ready, then got horribly sick, then left the country for a week, then came home (still sick) and have been unpacking, then spent the last month doing the editing of the book and writing a small group Bible study curriculum to accompany it (Yay! So excited for that, by the way.) Of course let’s not forget helping plan a women’s retreat for our church, leading women’s Bible study.

Oh, and homeschooling our kids. And, like, parenting them.

And making meals.

And being married.

Somewhere in there I voraciously read three fabulous books and batted around some ideas in my already-too-full brain.

There are friends in there and meetings too and I’m not sharing this to make excuses or prove my worth or compare my life with yours, I’m sharing this to make an important contrast with a to-do list I discovered recently, and to use myself as Exhibit A to show what Insanity looks like.

My grandma passed away when I was 9. Now, that seems really young, but I have so many memories of her that it feels like she was a major part of my life. And she is. She was an incredible woman of faith and prayer. Sometime I’ll share more, but I’ve always strongly identified with her, and felt somehow I was to carry on her life of faith and prayer. All that to say, her words, notes, and Bible are precious to  me.

So when I found her to-do list, you better believe I was eager to read. What were her days like? How did she cultivate such a life of faith and prayer?

Simple. Her lists were short. 

Of course this list was from 1977, when her children were all grown. She had three grandkids at this time and my brother would be born two weeks later. But still, the simplicity of it strikes me. Like, she actually wrote “Get lunch” and “Get dinner” on her to-do list??? She listed “unload dishwasher” and “straighten house”? I do all of those things at once while eating lunch and visiting with company at the same time.  She practiced calligraphy?? There ain’t nobody got time for that! (I did notice that that item didn’t get checked off. Apparently she didn’t have time for it either!)

But it’s also impossible to miss this: Read Bible & pray was item #1 on every single day. I also noticed she prioritized “helping Howard” (her husband) and that “Go to Bible study” is listed TWICE on this day. Ha! Even at 50-years-old she was still double-dipping in the Bible study department. Way to go, Grandma!

See, there are plenty of voices out there telling us to do less. Nothing radical about that. But it’s difficult to do less and do what really matters. We’re told to follow our hearts and do what feels good and make time for what YOU want. But this doesn’t reflect that. She spent time with the Savior. She intentionally helped her husband. She made time for gathering with the saints for the studying of God’s Word.

No wonder her faith and prayer life are inspiring me nearly 40 years later. 

I keep Grandma’s to-do list on my window-sill, behind my kitchen sink, part of my sacred space that holds my favorite things. It gives me perspective when Insanity seems normal. It reminds me that it’s okay to have a short list. Maybe even best to have a short list, when it means making time for what really matters. 

Happy weekend! Thanks for reading.