Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Another change in my life . . .

I've written a bit, previously, about all of the changes and transitions happening in our family and our ministry these days. For me, personally, the biggest change has been having no children at all in the house during the day. It's very quiet here now. It's also rather dusty, and, as each day passes, the house has become more and more disorganized!

Most people seem to assume that fewer children at home must translate into Trish having a lot of empty time on her hands . . . when in fact, the opposite has proven true. My kids have always been a large part of the machine that runs our home and ministry work. Without them, I'm overwhelmed and ridiculously understaffed! (I'm not including Russell in this discussion - of course, he's working at the ministry all day long, but he has his own work to do, and he hasn't been part of the "kids who live at home" workload for five years or so.)




In recent months, I've struggled to find a method or system that would allow me to manage all of the housework, my former ministry duties as well as those which were previously handled by children who have moved away, and the work required for Ben to attend and succeed at school - and which would also give me time to just be a wife, mom, and grandmother. While I washed dishes, I felt guilty because I knew I should be writing emails. When I was hanging laundry on the line, I knew I should be organizing photos for a PowerPoint presentation. When I worked on writing blog posts, my family members would run out of clean socks or underwear or clean dishes. When I chose to work at anything when I might have been visiting Russellito - that was just wrong! It hasn't been pretty, and has also been very frustrating for me.  

Finally, I had to give up! Even though I am a hermit by nature, and have loved having the house to myself during the days - I've come to accept the fact that I am not able to accomplish everything that currently falls into the category of "Trish's responsibilities." So, today, I am training a local lady who will be helping me with the dishes, laundry, cleaning, and - this pleases me a LOT - she will be cooking lunch for our work crew! So, pray for Yessenia and for me, if you would, as we navigate the path to successfully working together.

I must say, however, that today - our first day together - is going GREAT. The water was out for the past two days, and so both the dirty dishes and the dirty laundry have piled up . . . and yet, here I am, writing a blog post instead of dealing with all of that!

Expect more blog posts coming up, as now I should have the time to write them . . . and time to finally get the website up and running again, and to write the long-overdue "thank you" notes, and to answer emails more promptly, and . . . I think you get the idea! 

7 comments:

The Reader said...

This makes me truly happy for you! Continuing to pray that this transition goes smoothly for all of you.

Unknown said...

Yay!

Cindy in California said...

I'm glad you have found someone to get the help you need. I hope that the two of you get along well and enjoy each other's company. I'm sure Yessenia is grateful for the job!

Unknown said...

Glad you are getting the help you need. We are so lucky to have affordable household help in Honduras. We have a lady that comes every day. We had a live in helper when the children were younger. We all share the load. Laura wants to cook herself, also wash and hang clothes. The maid does the rest - cleaning the house, washing dishes, ironing and putting away. I do all the outside work inside and around the property.

Joe Link said...

Trish, as your photo testifies, you come from a long line with great "jeans" and are a strong woman, but this sounds like a wonderful compromise that can help free up your busy schedule. I pray that it works out well for both you and Yessenia.

Unknown said...

I wanted to see how this was going... Is she helping to lighten your load?

Trish said...

Thanks everyone, for your kind words and understanding of the situation!

Callee - so far so good! I have been able to post a lot more on the blog, since she started, and I am starting to catch up on some of my other neglected ministry/office work!

Both Yesenia and I are pleased with how things are working out! :)