Interrupting regular posting because…. (drumroll please) …
Feminine Adventures finally has a Facebook page! (It only took three months of procrastination!) I would be so honored if you stopped by and liked Feminine Adventures on Facebook.
(many thanks to Crystal from Your Pic Photography for the original picture for this and my header, and to my wonderful husband for the lovely design!)
“Our character is basically a composite of our habits. Because they are consistent, often unconscious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character…” Steven R. Covey
Once established, habits are unconscious patterns. Patterns that shape the fabric of our days.
If you’re like me, your fabric could use some fine tuning. This year, I am seeking to establish one habit each month that will help me be a more disciplined woman of God. Care to join me?
Not so very long ago, when Joshua was study morning and night during the long law school days, I fell into a horrible habit. After dinner, the last thing I felt like doing was cleaning up the kitchen. So, while Josh hit the books again and our oldest (then a baby) contentedly played, I told myself, “It’s been a long day, why not spend just a few minuts online checking emails and reading blogs.”
Without fail, a few minutes turned into half an hour or an hour as I jumped from post to post, with the dishes looming ever larger in my mind. When I finally got up from the computer, the plates were crusty and I washed dishes while mad at myself for my lack of discipline.
Finally, it had to stop. I enforced a new rule on my unwilling self: don’t leave the kitchen ’til it is clean. Soon, a new habit emerged that changed the fabric of my evening.
I’ve never been good at following detailed schedules (though I have plenty of practice writing them), but establishing an evening routine has worked wonderfully for me.
Routines are like gentle rhythms that ensure you fulfill basic priorities, without locking you into a strict regimen.
Each evening I follow a basic routine: tidy home, prepare dinner, eat dinner together, wash dishes (while my four-year-old dries, the two-year-old clears the table, Josh holds the baby and the kids and I sing or work on poetry together) and sweep the floor, get children ready for bed, spend family time with children and put them in bed.
Turning one horrible habit into a good rhythm has made a humungous difference in how my home runs (and in my attitude!)
After last month’s simple habit (that has also made a profound effect on my days!), I decided to tackle a slightly more challenging habit this month. Since our family has benefited from a basic morning and evening routine, my goal for February is to establish a lunch routine. The pattern will probably fluctuate the first few days as I try to figure out what works best for my household, but here are the things that I want to fit into it:
Rather than start 2012 with Grand Resolutions that (despite good intentions) would soon be broken, this year my challenge is to implement one new habit a month.
When there are so many areas that you want to change, it is hard to limit yourself to just one at a time. But seeking perfectionism often paralyzes any action. Choosing one habit, committing to it, and actually doing it, will pay much better dividends in the end. (At least so I hope!)
My habit for January was simple: get dressed before breakfast. January is already at an end. Can you believe it? It’s time to check in with a progress report.
With a few exceptions, I have actually carried through on the habit. (It’s quite the difficult task, don’t you think? Haha!) Only twice (on weekends) did I really lounge around in my pajamas and both days felt so much less productive. In fact, not being disciplined to get dressed those two days was incredible motivation for the rest of the month.
This one habit has made such a difference! I have been shocked at how much more productive my day feels when I simply spend two minutes to get dressed before the morning rush begins.
As Crystal, from Money Saving Mom, said, discipline begets discipline. The benefits of choosing to not procrastinate (even on something as simple as getting dressed) have spilled over to the rest of the day.
News has it that prices are rising. I’m sure if you’ve gone grocery shopping the past year, you’ve noticed it. Packages are shrinking and the prices keep inching up.
Inflation isn’t fun. It is a tax on everyone.
Rates are rising and it’s easy to want to grumble when it comes time to pay the bills. Like so many things in life though, complaints so often cloak our blessings. We just have to learn to look at them properly. The simple fact that we have a water or heating bill is cause for gratitude!
Rising prices are not fun, but the next time you’re tempted to complain, just remember, a water bill is cause for gratitude!
linked up at Gratituesday and Teach Me Tuesdays
As women, our plates are often stacked high with half a million urgent tasks. It’s so easy to get overwhelmed when we’re being pulled in a dozen different directions at the exact same time.
Sometimes God orchestrates our schedules in such a way that it forces us to rely on Him for grace just to make it through the day.
However, sometimes the stress is of our making. Sometimes we fill our lives to overflowing with “brain clutter” and then wonder why we can’t seem to get anything really accomplished.
That’s the brain clutter I am on a journey to get rid of.
(Just joining us? Read the rest of the series! 1- 2 of 21 Ways to Clear out the Brain Clutter, 3-10 on Eliminating Technological Clutter and 11-16 on De-Cluttering the Home)
I’m on a quest to de-clutter my brain!
Technology-overload can clutter the brain. So can a cluttered home.
A smoothly-running home creates the perfect atmosphere for an uncluttered brain. There’s something so peaceful about a well-ordered home. A home where everything has a place and is put in its place when not being used.
This doesn’t mean no messes. Homes are supposed to be lived in. Children are supposed to play. And, even though I don’t always act like I believe it, a cheerful attitude is much more important than a tidy home!
Life happens. An uncluttered home isn’t first priority, but it does help clear out the brain clutter. The following ideas have helped our home (and my brain!) be less cluttered.
(Read tips 1 and 2 of 21 Ways to Clear out the Brain Clutter and 3-10 on Eliminating Technological Clutter)
I’m on a journey to eliminate brain clutter, as I shared yesterday. Brain clutter comes in many forms. One of the biggest challenges to a clear brain in the 21st century is technological “clutter.”
Researches have raised concern that constant media input may shorten attention spans and may rewire the brain. Eliminating technological brain clutter is vital (and so difficult!)
(Read part 1 of 21 Ways to Clear out the Brain Clutter)
We all know what a cluttered home looks like: stuff lies scattered about and we stumble over the piles of laundry and stub our toes on Duplos.
I hate clutter.
Brain clutter is like house clutter. Brain clutter dampens our focus and distracts us. Brain clutter is all the unfinished matters we need to attend to that distract us while we’re working on a task.
Ever been washing the dishes and remembered, “Oh, I forgot to pay the water bill.” So, before you forget, you leave the dishes and go pay the water bill. While online, you remember an email you read this morning that just has to get answered….
Am I the only one?
Recently, I read Blogging with Amy’s post about how to keep your inbox clean. That post finally turned the brain clutter light-bulb on. I used to read an email, then think about it while I did laundry, then read it again (sometimes days or weeks later) before finally getting around to responding. My response was generally late and I wasted so much mental energy!
I teach my children, “play with your toys, then put them away before you get something else out.”
You and I may not play with toys like a toddler, but the same principle still applies. Finish the task at hand.
My brain is still cluttered at times, but it is getting tidier and I feel so much more productive! Would you like to join my journey to de-clutter the brain and keep it cleared?
Over the next couple of weeks I’m going to post 21 practical tips to help eliminate brain clutter. Not all tips will be practical for everyone, but I hope we all walk away encouraged!
Does it ever feel that life gets so busy that before you’ve had a chance to stop and take a breath, another week has crept by and you have been going from event to event with no time to pause? The calendar fills up, day to day needs press upon us and it’s so easy to loose focus.
This evening I was feeling overwhelmed and very, very tired (many thanks, darling baby)! I stepped outside just for a minute to gaze at the stars.
I’m guest posting today over at These Five of Mine Plus Two. Head over to my friend Kasey’s lovely blog to finish reading this post. While you’re there, check out her Handful of Heart link up!
Comparing. We humans tend to be good at it.
Sometimes comparing is simply jealousy for a nicer home or cuter wardrobe. There is another kind of comparing though: the comparing that looks at our sister’s story or our sister’s method and gets discouraged.
Yesterday, I was reading Passionate Homemaking, a blog I’ve loved for years, and Lindsey shared about the new direction she believes God is leading her blog in. Immediately, I started doubting and second-guessing, “Is what I’m blogging about as worthwhile? Should I follow her?”
Then the story about the disciple Peter came to mind. Jesus had just told Peter that he would have to suffer for His sake and Peter turns, looks at the disciple John and asks, “Master, what about him?”
Jesus never answers the question.
John was later imprisoned, but Jesus doesn’t tell Peter that. Instead He says, “…What is that to you? You follow Me!” (John 21:24 ESV)
Few of us have, or likely ever will, experiences physical persecution. The question, “Master, what about her?” is still dangerously common though.
It’s as easy to compare now as it was then.
Jesus’ answer “You follow Me!” rings just as true. God calls each of us to different paths. Just like in parenting, we need to distinguish between the methods and principles of women of God.
God lays down principles in His Word. We must strive to follow those principles. But God also gives so much freedom in the methods we use to follow those principles!
Just because someone else is called to blog about certain things, or teaches her children a certain way, or knits amazingly, or cleans her house a certain way, or [insert Mrs. Jones' wonderful talent here], doesn’t mean I need to too.
Reading about other women’s methods should inspire us as we seek to carry out the principles in God’s Word. However, we need to distinguish between the principles that we should follow and the methods that we may follow.
Likewise, we should be inspired as we witness God write a friend’s story. Yet we must remember that as the Master Storyteller, God writes each story differently and this is a glorious, beautiful thing!
linked up at Finer Things Friday and Teach Me Tuesday
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