Rule of Life, version 2

Hello Steindom readers! I'm trying to blog a little more often...I somehow get it in my head that it takes 5 hours to write and post a blog when really it only takes about 10 minutes.

If you read my previous blog entitled "My Daily Program", you know that as a housewife I don't just sit around all day watching soap operas and eating bon bons. But I don't scrub the floors with a toothbrush all day either! I have scheduled times in my day so that my life is balanced with prayer, household duties, apostolic work, and a little fun.

I knew when I made my first schedule that I would probably need to tweak it every once in a while because things in my life would necessitate change. A couple months after I made my first "rule of life", I needed to do some revising. The reason: I needed a daily nap.

As I've gotten farther along in my pregnancy, I've found that I've needed a bit more sleep than the average bear. This probably isn't a surprise to anyone, but it was a bit of a surprise to me. My husband has described me as a "go-getter", and that's probably pretty close to the truth. I like to keep busy, get things done...and for me, there's no such thing as being bored. I just don't have time for boredom.

After my wonderfully supportive husband told me it's really okay if I need a daily nap (and my doctor seconded the motion), I realized my "rule" needed some revising. I couldn't cram this nap into a 15-minute free time. My schedule needed an overhaul.

So, I flipped some things around and ended up cutting out one of my apostolate sessions per day (I was doing two 45-minute blocks a day). When I stepped back to see what I was going to cut out, I could easily look at my schedule and see where my priorities needed to be. Cutting out prayer was not an option. My second duty (after God) is to my husband, so household responsibilites couldn't budge either. I needed to cut down on apostolic work, not because it's not important, but simply because God (manifested in prayer time) and my husband come first.

So below is the new and improved version. The funny thing is, it's really not much different than the first one. In addition to adding naptime, this revision allowed me to switch around some things that weren't so well timed before. Revising my "rule" helped me be more faithful because it became simply a better tool. I can't be a slave to my schedule...my schedule is there to help me.

7:00 a.m. Rise
7:15 a.m. Breakfast
7:30 a.m. Shower/Change
8:00 a.m. Morning Prayers
8:30 a.m. Dishes, Tidy
8:45 a.m. Free Time
9:00 a.m. Apostolate
9:45 a.m. Snack
10:00 a.m. Financial
10:15 a.m. Rest
11:00 a.m. Prep for Chapel
11:15 a.m. Depart for Chapel
11:30 a.m. Chapel: Spiritual Reading
11:45 a.m. Mass & Angelus
12:30 p.m. Depart for Home
12:45 p.m. Lunch
1:30 p.m. Practice Piano
1:45 p.m. Household I
2:30 p.m. Free Time
2:45 p.m. Evening Prayer
3:00 p.m. Household II
3:45 p.m. Snack
4:00 p.m. Walk (Rosary)
4:30 p.m. Dinner Prep and Tidy
5:15 p.m. Joel Home
5:30 p.m. Dinner

The funny thing is, I'm going to have to revise my schedule again in the next couple days because Joel will be working from home...and we'll be getting up earlier and going to mass in the morning. No matter what, I'm sure the newest incarnation of my daily schedule will once again help me do what I want to do: God's will at every moment.