Torch, Fall 1982

14 TORCH: MSW: TORCH: MSW: TORCH: MSW: TORCH: MSW: TORCH: MSW: by Thanksgiving so that we can really enjoy the holiday together. You sound like you have a lot of things "put together" in your life. Do your plans ever fall apart in front of your eyes? Funny you should ask! This is one of those weeks . We've just come home from a trip . The laundry is piling up ; everything in the garden is ready to be canned or frozen ; two children are sick; I have a speech to prepare for next week; and company is coming for the weekend . You look pretty calm . Thanks, but my initial response to these situations is panic - I just know I can ' t get everything done! So I have learned to make a list and to assign priorities to get through the log jam. Then , when I get through the immediate crisis, I try to find any changes I might need to make . For example , I have learned not to take on any extra projects in the early fall because I am so busy canning and freezing and making the children ' s winter clothes. Is there ever time for your personal pleasures? I seem to do everything in the car! I'm thinking of writing a book, JOO/ Things A Mother Can Do In A Car. I haven't had time to put lipstick on at home for years! I always have a needlework project in the car and a book for reading in the doctor 's waiting room. I've become quite adept at snatching bits of time for myself. Do you feel any pressure from your church to perform as a pastor's wife? The people in our church allow me to be the person God is making me to be and they allow me to live by my priorities . They are very loving . They are really super! Hospitality is one thing that many church members do not have a handle on. Your family entertains many guests. How do you fit it in? I used to think that being given to hospitality meant formal entertaining . However, in the last several years I have begun to see entertaining as looking for ways to use my assets to meet the needs of others. We like to include someone who needs encouragement or special love in a family meal. Hospitality can be taking a meal to someone who is sick or has had an especially upsetting day. We do have lots of weekend company. To make it easy, we swing into a company menu - things that are easy to fix and which allow me to enjoy the company , too. TORCH: Surely, with six children, you have been forced to find some shortcuts to family maintenance. Would you share some of them? MSW: Every homemaker has her little shortcuts . I like to do two things at once like cleaning kitchen drawers and cupboards or giving myself a manicure while I'm talking on the phone . I love children ' s clothes that button at the shoulder because it is so much easier to move two buttons than to let down a hem. When I work around the house , I wear an apron with pockets where I can carry small items from one room to another and keep a paper and pencil for writing down ideas . Doing routine tasks is my best thinking time. TORCH: If you could distill your philosophy of time management into a few words, what would they be? MSW: Know well your values and priorities. Plan well , but be flexible - allow God to change your plans. Live simply so that you have time and money for the things that matter the most to you . Keep your sense of humor and your sense of proportion. And, remember that a spotless house may well be the sign of an empty life!