"Today's best is tomorrow's starting point"

Josh and I had the awesome opportunity to be a part of a mentoring relationship with another ministry couple. This couple has kids who are grown, grandkids and have been in the heart of ministry for many years. They've 'been there, done that', so to say. They most definitely do not have a 'been there, done that' type of attitude, but because of their experiences prove to be a wonderful couple for mentoring us 'young bucks' in the ministry. We tried to meet as often as possible..which usually turned out to be monthly, until they felt a call to move out of our area. We miss this relationship for sure, but know that this is what needed to happen.

During one of our times together, John (the husband of this couple), talked about how today's best should be tomorrow's starting point. At first this didn't 'click' with me..but he explained. He used an example of his time as a teacher. I don't remember the exact specifics, but it had something to do with a project that he would have his class do. He did this project every year and each year, while explaining the project to his class, he would display the BEST projects from the previous class. Last years best projects became the starting point for the following year...and he would find that the results of this project would get better and better and better every single year.

I'm sure that this concept can be applied in many ways in each of our lives. I think of it often in my daily work as a stay at home mom and 'housewife'. A big part of my job here is keeping up with the daily household chores, and in the end, making a place of 'en gedi' for my family, especially my husband. He works VERY hard all day and the least I can do is make his return into his home each day a time of refreshment and relaxation, rather than a time of unorganized chaos. (with four kids, he usually comes home to 'organized chaos'...but there's just not much we can do about that!).

I have a very bad habit of spending a day cleaning and organizing...and instead of going on the "today's best/tomorrow's starting point" idea, I will sit around the next day thinking "the house is clean, so today I can sit back and relax". But see..what happens when I do this, is that the very next day I am back at catching up and cleaning and organizing like a crazy woman. The day's when I take to heart making today's best tomorrow's start things go MUCH more smoothly. If today, I build on the work I did yesterday, then I actually end up doing far less work in the long run.

A practical example: If yesterday I cleaned the bathroom so it's all sparkly and clean and then tomorrow ignore it completely (because I just cleaned it yesterday)...the following day I will be back on my hands and knees scrubbing the pee (yes PEE) that is on the back of the toilet and sometimes the floor from my 3 young boys. BUT...if I clean the bathroom one day and then the next day take the time to just wipe down the toilet (taking less than a minute) then I will save myself MUCH work.

...or better yet! When the bathroom only needs a little wipe down then I can have the kids take part in this as well. It is hard and overwhelming (and downright disgusting) for a 5 year old to try to clean a bathroom that hasn't been cleaned in a week.

I encourage you, to take this concept and run with it, in whatever area of your life that seems appropriate. And for me, I assure you, keeping with this idea ends up allowing me more time to sit, relax and enjoy my time at home with my kids!