I am glad I was able to review Malia M. Russell’s “Chaos to Order” because it was something I really needed.

The first thing you notice when you open the book is the following formula:

CHAOS
– Distractions
– Decisions
÷ Delegation
+ Goals
x Spiritual Disciplines
__________________
= ORDER

When looking at the list, right away I know my worst habit is distractions. I have lots of distractions! I also have lots of decisions to make in keeping my household running in a way that makes my husband proud and so I get distracted by that. It’s a never ending cycle! If you ask any woman to point out the most distracted woman in the Bible pretty much every single person will name Martha. Martha was so busy doing that she forgot to focus on WHO was right in front of her! Martha had a gift of serving. Unfortunately, she let herself get interrupted with a grumpy attitude. I’m so like that in many ways! Aren’t we all like that sometime?! Distractions take over our lives so much that what started out as good ends up being very, very bad. We don’t have to live our lives this way!

In Chaos to Order: 25 tools, Malia breaks those 25 tools down into the categories mentioned above. First, in distractions she talks about 7 tools that are helpful but can also easily lead you to distraction. You can probably guess that the computer is high on this list!

The next 9 tools fall into the decisions category. She covers everything from meal planning to budget and chores. Not surprisingly, school falls into this category. Make a plan and stick to it. Occasionally you might have a need for a sick day but taking a week off, and then two doesn’t work and before you know it the school year is finished and you haven’t taught your children what they needed to learn. Discipline also falls into this category. Sit down with your family and make a list of rules based on what works for your dynamics. Put it in a prominent place in your home and stick to it!

Delegation comes next and really there is only one tool in this category: delegation! This is one of my hardest things to do! I give myself excuses all the time about why I should be the one taking care of everything. Really, if God wanted me to do it all then why on earth did He surround me with billions of other people? I don’t have to do it all! My children can do things. My husband can do things. I can let my friends help me with trade-offs of stuff. I don’t have to be Super-Woman! I like for this category Malia suggested using fun titles like Office Assistant or Kitchen Manager! It makes your children feel more important and makes it fun and creative, too!

Goals come next with tools 18-21. What do you want for your family in the next year? 5 years? 10 years? God reminds me often that His plans are not always my plans but that doesn’t mean I’m supposed to just sit idly by and let whatever happens happen. That would mean that I never shop for groceries, never service my car, never go to the doctor or try to maintain my health, and so forth. My husband and I take time to talk about our goals for the immediate present time, and for our future. We have seperate goals for both of those times, but they often overlap as well. The tools in this section will help you focus on that, or at least give you an idea where to start!

The last four tools cover Spiritual Disciplines. She covers daily (prayer), weekly (church), and occasional (retreats) disciplines as well as just practicing joy! We face trials everyday but that doesn’t mean our lives are a trial. Habakkuk 3:17-18 says “Though the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines, [though] the product of the olive fails and the fields yield no food, though the flock is cut off from the fold and there are no cattle in the stalls,Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the [victorious] God of my salvation!” Malia gives a bit of a modern day mom kind of translation to this verse. It goes like this: “Though there is no food ready for dinner, and there is no money in the account, though the sickness gets worse, and the pain persists, though my children are out of control, and my spouse does not appreciate me, though I feel like I am buried in never ending work, and I cannot get through a single subject without someone interrupting, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be
joyful in God my Savior.” There are good, godly things we can focus on each and everyday! Why not be a glass half full kind of gal? You’ll be less stressed if you are and every one else around you will be happier, too!!

I look forward to implementing the tools I found in this book. Many I do already but many I don’t. I look forward to subtracting those distractions and decisions and multiplying those spiritual disciplines for sure! I hope the future me looks a bit more like Mary instead of Martha!