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2009-03-16

Create a Job Description--It's a REAL Job! Series #1

Writing job description
Image by sergis blog

Something that every good employee and employer can benefit from is a job description. A job description clearly outlines the responsibilities of the worker and can be used as a helpful evaluation tool. A job description can help eliminate confusion, distractions and inefficiencies.

So, why not a job description for us--home managers? As home managers, we can be especially prone to distractions--can I get a witness? It's so easy for us to use our time on all sorts of things--but are they the things we should really be doing?

As I mentioned in my post about managing time from an eternal perspective, there are many good things we can be doing, but are they the things God has asked us to do? A job description can help filter the good from the best! And, boy, could I use that kind of help!

Every home manager's job description will look a little different. Each home is different and each family is different. You may be in a different life season from me. But I think there are some basic steps we can each use for the development of our own personal job descriptions.

Here's what I came up with when I was thinking of going about this process for myself:

Seek out the wisdom of your Heavenly Father

Not only does our Father know us and our families best, but the creation of the role of home manager was His idea! Start with prayer. Ask Him for His help and wisdom with this exercise. Then seek out what He's already said on the topic! There are a few key passages that have informed my thinking about my job description--namely, Titus 2 and Proverbs 31. Go to His Word and write down all that you can find about what your responsibilities should be as a godly woman.

I want to point out here that I don't believe the Lord is going to ask every woman to do everything the woman in Proverbs 31 was doing! There are some things I think are pretty black and white in Scripture concerning the responsibilities of a wife and mother. Then there are other things that require you to sit very quietly and still to hear from the Lord. "Do you want me to teach that Bible study class?" "What about this home business opportunity?" He might say yes to one woman, but no to another. Listen in humility.

Ask your husband

I think that Genesis 2 makes it pretty clear that as wives, we are to be our husband's helper. What is important to your husband? What does he need you to be doing? What does he prefer you to be doing? Maybe home cooked breakfasts are really high on his wish list. Maybe he wishes you'd spend more time watching football with him instead of cleaning. Maybe he's frustrated that he never has clean socks. (Ahem. I've been there.) Let him know that you value his input in forming your job description. He might not have a whole lot to say on the topic, but you also might be surprised that he's delighted you asked and has a lot to say about it. This part might be pretty hard. Again, listen in humility.

Consider your present life season

Maybe you are the mother of young children, like me. Or perhaps you're a homeschooling mother with several older children. Perhaps you're a newlywed, and you don't have any children yet. What if you're an woman who doesn't have children or whose children have left the nest? Each life season will call for different priorities and opportunities. For me, my children are way up there on my priority list. I have to be careful to give their needs the proper time and attention. But maybe another woman has more room for ministry to those outside of her family. You get the idea--size up your own personal family needs.

Write it down and use it!

Once you've sought the Lord's wisdom, your husband's input, and assessed your life season, you're ready to get this thing down on paper! I think it's worth saying that continuing to seek the Lord throughout this process is important.

Why write it down? I suppose you could just keep these thoughts in your mind, but will they be as effective as a hard copy that you can pull out, look at and use for evaluation? In fact, mine was mostly in my head until I started thinking about this post. I feel confident that having it written down will help me be more mindful of what my priorities truly are. I'm planning to pull mine out during my weekly planning sessions to act as a reminder and evaluation tool.

There you have it--my suggestions for writing a job description for yourself. Tomorrow I'll post what I came up with as my own job description. It's pretty basic, but I think it will really help to keep me on track.

What about you? Do you have a job description? What kind of things do you or would you include in your own job description?

3 comments:

Jenn @ Beautiful Calling said...

Oh, I was watching for your post today!! I don't know if I will have time to sit and think/write my job description until later this week (it's a busy week!) but I think that this is a great idea! Things that are written down are more concrete and not just random thoughts floating around somewhere. I think it helps to focus and determine priorities! I can't wait to read yours tomorrow!

Anonymous said...

Wow! What a great idea! Although, I'm not looking forward to the asking my husband's input part. :) But it will probably be a good conversation and a way to resolve a few issues.
I think it will help him see that I do "work" if we create a job description.
Looking forward to reading yours too!

Anonymous said...

Oh, the irony! Today was one of *those* days. You know the kind. Where things feel hairy, you feel like you're failing, and nothing goes right. I'm reminded of God's grace on days like today. And I'm SO glad that it's not up to me to be perfect--only to keep pressing on toward the goal of being more like Jesus.

I love it when He reminds me that just because I fail on one day, doesn't mean I can't get up, run back to Him, and obey Him again.

Yes, so I'm saying that just because I wrote my job description doesn't mean I'm always following it! :)

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