I have had so many encouraging comments about the blog and I am thrilled that those reading it are enjoying it.  Please continue to share your comments especially if there are areas you would like me to write about!

Last week was all about the importance of keeping up a calendar.  When we do this, our busy schedules and our fun times will, hopefully, find a place on the calendar and our lives will begin to be more balanced.

Probably the most important area of our life to schedule is when we will plan, shop and cook meals for our family.  Whether you like to cook or you hate it, the fact still remains that families have to eat and someone has to be in charge.  And that someone is usually the wife/mom.  So the better organized you are in this area, the healthier and happier everyone will be.

Action Plan:  Your goal is to know what’s for dinner each night.  When you have a menu planned for a few days, the week or even the month, all the stress that comes around the dinner hour will be diminished.  It’s not hard to understand why professionals call the dinner hour the “arsenic hour”!  Everyone comes home tired and hungry after a long day.  Children and parents are not as patient at this time so the more we can do to keep this time of day going well the better.  Note:  Just because a meal has to be planned each night doesn’t mean it has to be cooked!  When you are planning the week’s menu, check with your spouse and older children to see who will be out of town, who has a late rehearsal, etc.  Then those nights you could bring a healthy meal in or eat out.  The point is the family needs a healthy meal and a meal eaten together.

Manna From Heaven:  “She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar.  She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.”  Proverbs 31:14-15.  Women in Biblical days had to plan meals too!

Emotional Check-Up:  When we cook or plan a meal for our family, we really are feeding them almost more emotionally than physically.  The kitchen is the heart of the home and a meal lovingly put together does wonderful things for a family. Note:  31% of teens are less likely to use drugs, drink or smoke if they eat together with their family!  However, only 28% of American families eat together compared to 92% of French families!  I pray that those reading this will begin to put family dinners at the top of their priority list.  Perhaps we need to do less outside-the-home activities and spend more time with our families.

Healthy Fit-Fact: We must start giving our families healthy snacks and meals!  Stop buying processed and fast foods.  Obesity and being overweight now kills more people than hunger does! (Readers Digest, Feb. 2010 from Global Poll article).

 Next Week:  Cleaning Up!