Multi-Tasking, Version B

Early last month I wrote a long list of the things I want to accomplish with my days.  I think it seemed,

Wanna-Be... A lot of things!

in list form, more impossible than it really is.  Some things probably need to be crossed off. Some things don't need to be done every day.  And some things can be done concurrently... Using, what I'm calling for the purpose of this blog post, "multi-tasking, version A."

This would be the type of multi-tasking where, for example, I boil eggs, while I prepare a batch of bread, while I also prep chicken for a crock pot dinner and encourage Prince CuddleBunny to work on a sheet of math problems.  In other words, juggling different tasks all at one time.

But what I wanted to share with you today is the other type of multi-tasking that helps me accomplish (parts of) my list... The kind where I accomplish more than one thing on the list, but while doing one task.

My best example of this involve my listed desires to read the Bible more and learn Scripture, as well as sharing Scripture with my family.  

I had also written on that list

I want to get up early and make sure my family has nutritious breakfasts in the morning, and for those who leave, take nutritious lunches with them.

I have been doing that most of this year, but have made improvements.  I had been making Prince Inventive and Prince Go-for-It 2 sandwiches each day to grab on their way out to their respective schools.  

But Prince Go-for-It requested they be in a lunch sack.  He mentioned that he ate one sandwich as a snack, and as we discussed his hunger schedule and food needs, I realized I'd been doing only a partial job.  He clearly needed a fuller lunch with more variety, and just more food, in general. (Today he took 1 ham sandwich with lettuce, 1 almond butter and jam sandwich, 1 apple, crackers and cottage cheese, and 4 homemade "Everything Cookies.")  

The first day I told him I'd packed his lunch in a bag, he jokingly asked, "Did you write my name on the front?... and with a big heart?... And did you write me a cute note for inside?"

I'd actually thought of doing those things -less the heart- but thought that might be too baby-ish for a freshman in the midst of a junior high lunch room.  But off I went, back to put things to right, realizing I should've ignored my fears and done what my own heart had told me to do.  I wrote a note on his napkin, his name on the front of the bag, and I even added the heart... I made it small, to avoid huge embarrassment, but just to tuck it there, so he would notice.

The next day, I decided I could do even better.  That's when I started writing a Bible verse, in addition to a quick, loving note, on the napkins for Hubby's and the kids' lunches.

So while doing one thing... Providing nutritious lunches for my family... I accomplish a few more of my goals.  

 - I express love and encouragement
 - I share Bible verses and my faith with them all
                and
 - I also help myself.  In researching verses to write every day, I am contemplating what they mean and have to say to me.  

Plus, by the time I write a verse 3 to 5 times in a morning, I have a chance to start memorizing the verse.

  

Maybe it's not the hour of devoted quiet time in the Word that most recommend, but it's much better than nothing, and I think God is happy with the change...