Schedules, Homemaking Binder, Expectations and Flexibility

Have you ever had an experience where you know God was working with you to help you change in a certain area...and then what He shows you, He then confirms his message through other ways?

Well that's happened to me recently.

If you've been a reader for awhile, you'll know that me and schedules don't mix. I hate them. And I mentioned before that I hate "home management binders." And I would say that's how I've always been. But God showed me that isn't the case.

Before I had kids and before I was married, I was a working woman. I got up everyday at the same time and did everything in the same order. I worked at an insurance company and I had a schedule and routine. At such and such time I would do this and that, etc. I loved it.

So what happened?

Well, I'll tell ya. One of my biggest weaknesses is dealing with interruptions. If truth be told, I downright stink at it. Yes I got interrupted a lot at work. In fact, when I would go in on a Saturday when no one was there, I got a WEEK'S worth of work done in only 3 hours.

Once I became a mom, I still had somewhat of a routine. But once baby number 2 came along that all went out the window. I can't plan XYZ for 10 o'clock because I don't know if I'll be dealing with a grumpy baby at that time. Yeah I could clean this at 12pm but will it still be clean by 5? Stuff like that. Scheduling at work, and even at home when you are hubby and child free, is sooooo different than scheduling with a family.

So yes...I THRIVE on schedules, but I'm horrible when it comes to having that schedule interrupted.

So after that revelation I got another one. My expectations are too high. Can you believe I am crazy enough to EXPECT my 7 year old to go to the store with me and NOT ask for something? uh huh... naivety at its best. Or how about how I expect my 2 year old to sit quietly in the cart while I shop? Uh huh...wishful thinking right? But God showed me that I'm always setting myself up for failure with stuff like this. I expect that my kids will sleep in so I'll get some quiet time in the morning because they went to bed late. Yeah...okay...and then when they do get up early I get so mad!

So yesterday I read an article by Michelle Duggar called "Michelle Duggar on Having 19 Kids and Zero Expectations."

That was a confirmation of what God has been showing me. It's a really short article so read it if you get a second. But it talks about expectations when it comes to the house, to the kids, and everything else. This morning I woke up and decided that it's not a big deal if the kids wake up and interrupt my morning time with God (haha, my youngest JUST woke up as I typed that!).

He's showing me I just need to let go. Unexpected plans? Be adventurous and just go with it. I started getting up in the morning at 4:30 (instead of 5:15 like normal) so I can fold the laundry and put it away. Really? I'm already sleep deprived, so by all means lets fold the clothes! Little things like that. When changes happen, when plans fail, be flexible! Which leads me to another confirmation.

Over on A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, they talked about flexibility! Another great article that I recommend.

God has also been using a couple other resources that have truly been a blessing in my life. I've already told you about them HERE, but I'm going to tell you again hehe.

One is the "Ten Days of Intentional Parenting" series by Finding Joy. This has helped me to really be passionate about being a parent, which has also helped me deal with interruptions from my boys better.

And the other one is the Ebook - "31 Days to a Clean Home - Having a Martha House the Mary Way." If you struggle with cleaning, or more with the WHY behind the cleaning, I recommend this book.

God's message to me recently is just Chill Out! I take life too seriously at times. I over complicate everything and I think too hard on things that aren't worth my time. God has been pruning away things that aren't important out of my life and teaching me to just enjoy life.

Over the weekend I got this extreme passion and excitement to not only make a home management binder but to try to use a schedule again. I really believe that God put that on my heart and I can't wait to do it. That's my task for today. Between learning how to be flexible, lowering expectations, and going more with the flow, I think I can actually succeed this time around. I have learned (not sure why I didn't think this way before!) that my schedule is there to help me, not to tell me what to do. Changes and interruptions are okay...the schedule is more like a default. If nothing else is going on, then this is what I'll do normally. I don't have to follow it exactly...again, it's only there to help me.

Do any of you use a home management binder? (Please share any websites/blogs you know of that help build one!)

Do any of you battle with high expectations and not being flexible?

Do YOU need to chill out?

Linked to: Lowercase Letters, What Joy is Mine, These Five of Mine Plus Two, A Mama's Story

Where are all the Titus 2 Women I keep hearing about?

Hello Ladies,

I’m annoyed and I need to vent a little bit here…maybe some can relate. I’m a mom with young children and I just want to scream WHERE ARE THESE SUPPOSED TITUS 2 WOMEN? We’re supposed to have older women who encourage us, comfort us, lift us up as wives and mothers, teach us about being a homemaker, and on and on.

But all I see is judgment, finger pointing and ignorant statements. I see older women who do nothing but judge moms with statements like “well, that wouldn’t be allowed back in our days.” Really? Well back in your days you hit kids with a belt! You know what happens if you do that NOW???? You get ARRESTED!! Ever have statements like that? Let me tell you something “older” people…parenting in this generation is harder than it ever has been! Cut us some slack and zip your judgmental lips!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sometimes I think they forget what it’s like having small kids. Have you ever had your kids screaming at a store and you get some old woman telling you “you’re going to miss this?” Really?  I want to say to them…”Miss this? No, you’re going to miss your left eye after I shove my pen in it!!” What ignorance! It’s one thing to tell a mom that they are going to miss the kids while they are young…don’t tell them when they are ready to have a melt down!

My youngest has stressed me out the past few days so much that it has been making me physically ill. I’m ready to breakdown, I have chest pains, I haven’t been getting any sleep, I can’t get anything done, I can’t escape since I have no car…oh and I have pinkeye to top it off!

I’m not pointing fingers, but I have to say something. I was trying to be funny and have other moms who could relate reply. You know…sometimes us moms need a few “I understand…I’ve been there” kinda statements. I posted on facebook about how technology fails us when we need it most. The past week my youngest hasn’t been sleeping well. When he gets congested he turns into a nightmare! Well the farmers around our home and neighborhood have been doing a lot of work in the field and that throws dust around. We’re struggling with allergies and he is no different. It’s worse at night and I haven’t gotten much sleep because of his restlessness…oh and from his SCREAMING. I’m talking he gets MAD. So I was trying to put a youtube lullaby video that calms him down and it wouldn’t stop buffering. When I tried to put another video that he loves that’s on On Demand, all of a sudden our On Demand doesn’t work. And here he is…still screaming his head off (all over a stuffy nose!!) So instead of getting understanding moms, I get 2 older women who make comments that, at first I took with a grain of salt, but then as the more I thought about it, made me really angry (I have deleted it so don’t waste your time looking for it). One accused me of using technology as a babysitter and the other gave me advice that worked on their dog! What?

Which is what led to this post. I’m tired of these older women having no clue about being a mom with small kids. It’s like they don’t remember how HARD it was. My own grandmother doesn't get it! I won’t even talk to her about it. But then again, they practically abused their kids back in those days. And kids were seen and not heard!

So, if you’re an older woman, before you open your mouth, stop and try to see where the mother is coming from. Oh, and try to remember what it was like when you got no sleep due to the kids. Back when you were walking into walls because you were so sleep deprived…when you still had a house to clean and food to cook, and people to take care of…all on less than a few hours of sleep!!!!!!!!

STOP JUDGING US AND HELP US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

STOP TELLING US WHAT WE’RE DOING WRONG AND SPEAK SOMETHING ENCOURAGING TO US!!!

STOP TELLING US WE’RE GOING TO MISS THIS AND TELL US A CRAZY STORY THAT YOU WENT THROUGH!!!!!!!!!

STOP GIVING US DIRTY LOOKS AND TELL US IT WILL GET BETTER!!!!!!

AND TRY TO REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS LIKE FOR YOU!!!

I am just so fed up with people right now, I can’t even see straight…and they are all Christians which makes it worse. Encouraging people is becoming rare and judgment is becoming the norm.

Makes me sick!

Thanks for listening to my rant! While you’re blog hopping today, send some encouraging comments to your blog friends! You can never get enough!

Linked to: The Straightened Path, The Better Mom, A Mama's Story, lowercase letters, What Joy is Mine,

The Power of Consistency

 One thing that I love about having this blog, is since I started earlier this year, God has taught me a lot of "lessons." Of course, He is helping me so then I can post about it and help others.

How many here struggle with being consistent? I know this is a big problem and I have it! I'm not consistent in much about anything except for the fact that I know I will have coffee today and be on the computer. That's it.

My lack of consistency has hurt me in a lot of areas. Cleaning, the kids, my time with God, and so on.

But ever since I was doing my Comforting Psalms Challenge, I've learned something. I'm one of those people who never finish a book, I start a Bible Study and rarely finish it. I start projects and don't finish them. However, I have been reading the Psalms every day...even if it's just ONE...and I'm still getting through them. Right now I'm up to Psalm 92. That's HUGE for me. What this challenge has taught me is if I keep at something, I will get to the end. I know I suffer from the whole instant gratification thing. But many things in life are not INSTANT.

So here is what God has been doing with me. Of course, God is smarter than I am. Normally I would want to change a TON of stuff at once. Nope...that's not how God works. He started me with the laundry. Every day, in the morning, after getting dressed, I immediately throw a load of wash in. EVERY MORNING...(I've been doing this for about a month now). And as soon as I hear the washer stop, I switch it to the dryer. And then after it's done drying...my goal has been to get it done before 11-noon. Once I started doing that, then God put it on me to clean the lint tray AFTER taking the clothes out, instead of doing it before putting the clothes in. That saves me a few moments early in the morning. I'm usually busy at that point, so now I just have to stop what I'm doing, and go to the washer and just throw everything in and turn the machine on. Very quick.

That little "lesson" started showing me something. I used to let it pile up and then do a few loads in a day, about 3 times a week or so. I used to argue with myself saying "I refuse to do laundry every day." Well, since I've been doing it, I learned it's really quick to fold and put away just ONE load of laundry, doing a load a day causes me to NEVER run out of towels or underwear or socks, and I never have it hanging over my head.

Then after I got really consistent about the laundry, God started with me about the dishes. Right after I throw that load in the washer in the morning, I empty the dishwasher. That sets the whole day because seeing a stack of dishes in the sink stresses me out. So now I immediately rinse a dish, and then put it in the dishwasher. Once it's full, I run it.

Those 2 simple things have helped me a lot. But the biggest thing that I have learned about consistency, is that if you are NOT consistent, then everything you do is hard.

Being consistent about cleaning the fridge out once a week and wiping down the shelves saves time down the road. It doesn't give too much time for science experiments to grow and spills and messes are easier to clean up.

Wiping down the toilets and sink daily makes you feel good when you go in the bathroom, and then you never have a real mess to clean up. It's also nice to have a clean toilet because you never know when you are going to have to throw up. Seeing gross yellow spots and hair will just make ya gag more! lol!

I'm not going to list everything here. What I'm trying to say is being consistent is a blessing...it's a time saver. It takes me, maybe, 8 minutes to clean my bedroom now (that includes making the bed, vacuuming it, picking up stuff and dusting surfaces). That's because I've been doing it EVERY DAY. But if I didn't do it every day...when I did do it..that 8 minutes may be 20 minutes...or more. I started to notice that as I work towards consistency...I have more time to do what I want.

Now if only I could be consistent with the kids, life would be great lol! That is where I am REALLY bad! But hey...I'm making progress!

If you struggle with consistency, pray about it. Ask God to help you. I'm still going and I'm still working on it. But I no longer have a long mental list of excuses on why I don't have to do this today and that today. I'm working on just doing it on a regular basis and then it's quickly over.

God bless you all!

Linked to:
The Better Mom, These Five of Mine Plus Two, Lowercase Letters, What Joy is Mine, A Mama's Story, Call Me Blessed, Time Warp Wife, Far Above Rubies, Growing Home, A Pause on the Path, Our Simple Country Life,

Are you ready? Jesus is coming!!!!!!

Never has a song affected me so much as the one I'm about to talk about. I have listened to it for over 11 YEARS. I heard it one day when I was in church and went asking everyone where they got it from , who sings it, where can I get it and so on.

It's by a woman named Crystal Lewis and the song is called "People Get Ready, Jesus is Coming."

Ladies...when you are stressed out by the kids, your to-do list, you're mad at hubby, your inlaws are driving you crazy, the cashier annoyed you...whatever the case may be...this song brings you back to what it's all about. Every little worry you may have, goes away by just listening to this song....or at least it did for me.

Here's the song...for my email subscribers, click HERE for the YouTube Video.




Here are the lyrics to this WONDERFUL song:

Lord I'm ready now.
I'm waiting for your triumphant return. (You're coming so soon).
This world has nothing for me,
I find my peace and joy solely in You. (Only in You).
I want the world to see,
You're alive and living well in me.
Let me be a part,
of the harvest for the days are few. (You're coming soon).

Chorus:
So People get ready,
Jesus is coming soon
we'll be going home.
People get ready, Jesus is coming
to take from the world his own.
People get ready, Jesus is coming.
Soon we'll be going home.
People get ready, Jesus is coming
soon we'll be going home. (We'll be going home).

Verse 2:
Theres a day that comes
when we will be divided right and left.
(For those who know Him and those that do not know).
And those whoknow Him well, will meet Him in the air.
Hallelujah! (God is within us).
And those that do not know, they will hear "Depart I knew you not."
For my friends you see,
there will be a day when we'll be counted.
So know Him well, know Him well.

Chorus

(To take His own, to take His own...).
(We'll be going home, we'll be going home...).

For my friends you see,
there will be a day when we'll be counted.
So know him well, know him well.

Chorus 1x

People get ready..... 


Linked to: Our Simple Country Life, Raising Mighty Arrows, Feminine Adventures,

No Pooping on the Floor!

Since I decided I'll talk more "personally" on my blog, I figured I'd tell you about my morning.

Well technically it started last night. I am a little emotionally exhausted and in one of those funks where I just want to tune out the world. So I let the kids stay up a little later so they'll wake up later and I'll have more time to myself in the morning. Yeah...okay!  My youngest got up an hour and a half earlier than normal, and so didn't my oldest.

I didn't even get my morning time with God which makes me really cranky! I'm mean if it wasn't for God. Although I used to be sweet before I had kids...hmmm....what's up with that?

Then this morning I smelled something stinky and looked over at my son who had his diaper off. I found the diaper and there was nothing in it. So then I just thought he farted. So when I went to put the diaper back on, he had poop smear on his butt. So now I thought maybe he had to go so I rushed and put the diaper back on and thought all was well. Oh my...my naive, gullable, innocent mind. Nope...as I walked by his room, there it was. Yup...the log...the pinecone....whatever you want to call it...just sitting there like it's no big deal.

Never in a million years did I think I would yell "Don't poop on the floor!"...at least not to a human.

The other day, he decided to fingerpaint with it and as I'm putting him in the bathtub, I realized my older son went pee and missed. So now I stepped in a puddle of pee!

I'M SICK OF THESE KIDS AND THEIR BODILY FUNCTIONS!!!!!!

Anyone else have/had "waste" issues?

Linked to:
The Straightened Path, Better Mom, These Five of Mine Plus Two, Lowercase Letters, What Joy is Mine, A Mama's Story, Little of Me, Call Me Blessed, Time Warp Wife,

Bible Study Ideas for when you draw a blank

I don't know about you, but I struggle with a short attention span. Sometimes I wonder if I would ever truly be diagnosed with ADD or maybe it's because I'm a mom and I've developed a pattern of not completing a thought. Who knows. But my short attention span has hurt me tremendously when it comes to spending time with God in His Word and to study specific topics.

Many years would begin and I would have a one topic goal for that year. Well after about 2-3 weeks, I'm tired of studying it. Okay I got it, now let's move on! LOL. In reality, I really did NOT get it, but my hatred for the same thing over and over ruined it for me.

So I needed to try something different for me. I have prayed a lot about it and God really has helped "customize" a plan just for me (sounds like a diet commercial doesn't it? lol). Basically, I still have that year topic/theme, but I also have different themes for each month AND even different things for specific days of the week.

For example, January is the first month of the new year...so I want to study about new beginnings, having a joyful life and about forgiveness. February has Valentine's Day in it, so the theme is on marriage and your love walk. March I think of St. Patrick's Day and the gold wrapped coins lol. So I'm going to study Prosperity, being blessed and being a blessing and also God's Promises. And on and on.

But that's not all. Nope. I even have something more specific for myself on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. These three days I read and/or listen to a message on the mind, the mouth, and our attitude. This is the biggest area for all Christians and I want it right in my face on a regular basis. So the list below shows you what I'm doing throughout the year.

If you are sometimes lost at what to study, or have issues like I do with a short attention span, give this idea a try. Note: I feel God is leading me to study something else or I'm having an issue I need to deal with and study on, I will put these topics to the side. This is more of a "default"...I run back to this when I don't have anything else to study

Yearly Theme: Whatever is a HUGE issue in my life

January - Joyful life, new beginning, forgiveness

February - Marriage and your love walk

March - Prosperity, Being blessed and being a blessing, God's Promises

April - The Power of Jesus' Blood, Authority in Jesus (and over Satan)

May - Books on Motherhood

June - Prayer

July - Freedom in Christ, and dependence on God
August - Studying how to study the Bible more efficiently, other ways of studying that we may not be used to or have been introduced to

September - Specific book from the Bible to study verse by verse (ex: Ruth, Esther, James)

October - Being a giver (hence giving out candy at Halloween lol)

November - Having a thankful heart, being grateful

December - God's grace and love for us (in bringing Jesus into the world for us)

Weekly/Daily:

Every Monday listen and/or read about the mind and our thoughts

Every Tuesday listen and/or read about the mouth and the power of our words

Every Thursday listen and/or read about our attitudes and how to change them

So there you have it! Remember to come and visit on Thursday for our weekly linkup!

Linked to:
Call Me Blessed, Time Warp Wife, A Pause on the Path, The Straightened Path, Wise Woman Builds Her Home, Women Living Well, Deep Roots at Home, Raising Mighty Arrows, Some Girl's Website, Raising Homemakers, Feminine Adventures, The Better Mom, Lowercase Letters,