I Totally Get Why Elizabeth Hid Herself. . .

At no other time in my life have I felt the urge more strongly to hide under a rock than now, during this pregnancy.

Six months ago, when I discovered this new little person coming into existence, I just wanted to turn inward. I guess I had felt that way with the other two, but this time more so for some reason. Maybe the timing and my responsibilities and stress levels (none of which were terribly great or anything) coincided just so, or something caused me to want to retreat.

I started thinking about the part in the Bible where it talks about how Elizabeth became pregnant with John the Baptist. There's a verse that talks about how Elizabeth hid herself for five months (Luke 1:24). For a while, I've wondered about that. I tried to research a little into the meaning of that passage, really, to no avail.

One thing is certain: I definitely relate to that desire!

In the beginning of my pregnancy, it was mostly due to lack of energy and constant nausea. I just wanted to stay home and be by myself (which I mostly succeeded at- well, of course with the addition of my two older children). This time around, for some reason, the nausea and "morning sickness" extended past the "requisite" 12 weeks. I think I had it up until 16 weeks or so!

Since then, I've been feeling pretty good for the most part. I've had some aches and pains, but mostly, I'm embracing and enjoying this belly and the baby inside of it.

Then, recently, the comments began.

"Are you ready for that little girl to be born?" (We decided to wait to discover the baby's gender).

"You've got what? Two more weeks to go?" (I had 14 weeks left until my due date at that time).

"Wow, someone is going to have a baby soon! When are you due?" And then when I said "June", the response was "June?! Are you having two?!"

Oh, brother! I can just imagine back in the day when Elizabeth discovered she was with child, some of the comments she might have encountered. People probably would have made comments about her age, and if we read further in the story, we see that people questioned their desire to name the baby John, so there likely would have been comments about that, too. I think Elizabeth was wise to hide herself, since pregnant women seem to be a huge target for all kinds of comments and influences. It is so important to guard yourself when you are expecting.

I know I will have the grace to get through this and savor this pregnancy. I just may have to stay out of the public eye a little to make that happen! Don't worry, I really don't mind staying home as much as possible anyway!

How did you feel when you were pregnant? Did you want to be around others a lot, or did you feel the need to retreat?

Maintaining My Home Management Binder

It's a great thing to have a home management binder. It reminds me of my days as the office manager at our church when I used to go everywhere with my planner (or as I jokingly called it, "my brain"). It can make you feel more centered, more in control of your day and the goings-on of your family. But...it's pretty much useless, if it's not organized in such a way that you can actually utilize the information contained therein. I know this from experience.

About a year ago, when I originally got inspired to make my home management binder, I put in a few forms, some checklists, and then added some recipe clippings to that since I love cooking and baking. (I kind of have a ridiculous obsession with finding new recipes to try). Anyway, somewhere in there, I had gotten out of the habit of maintaining my binder. Needless to say, I didn't really use it anymore, except for a catch-all for my recipes found online or in magazines or wherever. It had no purpose; it was just a clutter magnet for my kitchen.

Recently, I had been seeing more and more posts on different blogs about home management binders. I got inspired again. I pulled out my binder a few weeks ago and knew that I had some work ahead of me. It was a mess. I'm happy with the progress I made, even though I still have more to do to make it totally workable for me. But at least it's a start...

• I started by pulling out all those recipes. I went through each one, and I realized there were several that I never actually used. The ones I did use, I placed in a pile to be organized.

• Then, I got to clippin'. I trimmed out unnecessary parts of the paper, as shown so that I could fit as many recipes as possible into my binder. 
• I used some of those adhesive photo refill pages to organize my recipes. I managed to fit 2-3 on a page. 
• My recipe pages are now organized by soups, main dishes, special dishes for a crowd (like church potlucks or holiday dinners) and children's favorites (like granola bars, etc). 

I still need to get some more pages, so I can also organize my massive collection of dessert recipes (still growing, now that I'm on Pinterest!)

Anywho, I had a lot of trash when I was done. (I hope no environmentalists are reading this! Lol!)

I found some helpful forms here, and printed them and added them to my binder like so: 

By the way, I'm using the Daily Docket and the Master Weekly Checklist from the above link. I'll probably add some more of these free printables gradually, so as not to overwhelm!

Basically, it's more functional now. And that's a good thing. Right now, I need all the help I can get! Now, if I can just stick with it, I think I'll be in business! Though, these days, I'm trying to be a little more forgiving of myself, since this little person is not allowing me to operate at my usual pace (that's okay!). 

Have you ever gotten off track from your organizational endeavors? How did you get back into the swing of things?