ezra 2
I am a doer. I like to jump in as soon as a plan is half baked and get started. Poor WonderHubs! He ends up finishing a lot of my half-baked projects. When we were first married we lived in this amazing little apartment. It wasn't half bad for a first place, but it was old. While the walls were painted white and the kitchen was pretty neutral, the bathroom was a spectacular tribute to 1973. The bathtub and the toilet were lemon yellow and the sink was bright orange. It was a sight to behold. But the thing that made me absolutely crazy about the bathroom was the light switch. It was upside down. No problem. I'm pretty handy and it would only take a screwdriver to fix. At least in my half baked plan that was all it took. When I electrocuted myself, WonderHubs took over and turned the power to the switch off before finishing my simple fix.
As much as I prefer just doing something over planning anything, the planning is an important step. In fact we see it in Ezra 2. It's one of those chapters that we like to quickly gloss over. There are a lot of names we can't pronounce, followed by a lot of numbers that really don't mean a whole lot to us, if we're honest. I think there's much to be learned in chapter 2 though. First of all, God made a permanent record of the people mentioned in chapter 2 and included what they were known for in some cases. We matter to God and what we do matters to God. There's something else there too. Once God had stirred the hearts of men and they had responded to His leading, God got them organized. If God takes the time to get organized, so should I.
Even if it's not your thing, take the time to get organized. 65 verses in chapter 2 are dedicated to counting the people. Four verses are devoted to their possessions. I tend to mix this concept up. I spend 93% of my time worrying about the stuff and 7% of my time worrying about the people. The census did two things for those who were counted.
- It told them who they were, to what tribe and house they belonged. Do you know where you belong? Do the people in your life know where they belong? Especially with our kids, I think we need to tell them often. They need to know they belong and that they have a place in the kingdom of God.
- It told them their purpose. There were priests and Levites and temple servants, there were singers and gate keepers. Each had a purpose, a job to do. Let your kids know that they have a purpose. It's not unloading the dishwasher, but part of their purpose is helping the family in which God placed them. Remember that you have a purpose! It’s not the laundry, but part of your purpose is serving the family God has given you.
Chores can be a great way to speak into your kids lives. I'm not suggesting it's going to be the highlight of their day, but it can help them to know that they are a part of something. There are about a million reasons that kids doing chores is a good idea, but the reality of it is, it's a pain to teach them to do chores, and sometimes it creates extra work. That's OK. Roll with it.
Tip:
No matter what system you use, make sure that the expectations are clearly stated. I have gone as far as laminating cards for each room that spell out in detail what should be done (I'm a huge nerd and love to laminate stuff--it doesn't even matter what).
Tools:
There are so many chore systems. Here are a couple of my favorites.
- Chore sticks
- You can do something similar with colored tongue depressors and a Sharpie marker. I had some fun and added things like, "tell a joke," or, "sing a song" to the chore sticks to break it up a little.
- Trello
- Trello is a great online tool to use for all sorts of lists. It lets you create a “to do” list for your kids, complete with points they can earn (which translate into whatever you want). Your kids can claim a chore and change its status as needed.
- Weekly areas
- As my kids have gotten older, it helps them to know what is going to be expected. Assigning chores on a weekly basis has been helpful. We usually assign a particular area of the house plus a weekly job.
