How to Live Fully Alive in your Daily MOMents

A little girl lost high in the mountains with a frantic grandpa searching for her, constantly running to find her for three hours.  After his energy is depleted, his heart broken, and his soul spent, he has but one prayer,

"God, you can take everything I have, you can even take me, but please do not take my little girl."

The little girl was found miles up the mountain where the rescue helicopters were not hovering, where she shouldn't have been, where she shouldn't have been rescued.  But in God's infinite grace, she was found by a couple hiking in the woods.

After the little girl was returned to her grandpa, he did not scold.  He did not lecture.  He did not ground her for life.

He wrapped the little girl in his arms and said, "I love you."

And in the back of his mind, he heard a small whisper, "And I love you."

When this man was willing to give up his life, he truly started to live.

Ken Davis told this story to a roomful of women at the She Speaks Conference.  And in that moment, no one was worried about a book deal.  No one was thinking about her next speaking engagement.  All hearts were celebrating the return of one little girl. 

In the same way, God celebrates when we finally come home.

He called us his child in order that we might have life and have it abundantly here on earth.  That means we need to make this living thing worth it, ladies:

When we stop resenting and start forgiving.
When we stop comparing and start celebrating.
When we stop living a life of reaction and start making intentional choices of grace.

So this has spurred me on.  My days need to be more intentional than just a To- Do list. I need to know why I am doing it in order to give myself the accountability and perseverance to continue.

I need to know the hope I am trying to live in order to release myself from the tension of my life in everyday MOMents:

After being filled with the power of God I can:

*  Make a weekly meal list so that my stressed 5:00 whatdoyouwantfordinner meals are creative and healthy.

*  Replace my children's exasperation from lack of quality time into scheduled fun date nights with my kids.

*  Refresh myself from the stresses of today in order to be able to serve my husband in all ways...

*  Get out of bed to exchange sleeping for fully living because of a quiet time.

When you know the "So what?"  you will be more likely to stick with a goal.  

What one thing are you going to do this week and why will you do it?

And while you do it, listen for that little whisper, "I love you."  Not because you are doing it, but because you are His.

New ebook and Author Page

So excited to announce my new ebook!

 

Clutter Free Simplicity

 

as well as my

 

Author page on Amazon

 

 

Feel free to pop on over to the

 

BOOKS

 

tab and pick one up to start your year off right!

 

With less time devoted to clutter,

there is more time to enjoy

those amazing MOMents!

 

Blessings!

5 Rooms - 5 Tips to Save 5 hours of Time

Five Tips to Save Time

And Enjoy Being A Mom

I enjoy being a mom.  Do not get me wrong.  I love the taking care of the kids part.  I love the taking care of the home part.  It is just the taking care of the kids while I am taking care of the home.  And my husband.  And the laundry. And the Christmas cards (What?  My friends and family will now be asking, "Christmas cards?  We have not gotten those in three years!"  Oh, just wait...I am sending them for. the. last. three. years.) And the cooking.  And the dentist appointments. And...the new puppy.

There is just a lot to take care of being a mom.  I am not complaining and I am not even going to say that I do not have enough time in the day to do everything, because I really do.  We all do.  Oh, don't get me wrong.  I will be the first to say it would be nice to have "more time."  And we can look at other people and think we know what is going on in their lives that make it so much easier  and is reaping so much more time in their lives:

"Oh, she sends her kids to school.  She has all day to get things done."

"Oh, she homeschools, she doesn't have to do anything with the school that takes up time."

"Oh, she is a stay at home mom who can get stuff done."

"Oh, she works, but gets the summers off to get things done."

"Oh, she has a cleaning lady.  Of course she has more time."

But it really comes down to this:

What do you do with your time?

Here are five ways that I am going to save 5 or more hours every week.  Get ready.  Some of it is kind of radical, and some of it is kind of common knowledge that I do not make common enough in my life.  

Hold me to it, Friends...

Let's start in the Kitchen:

TIP ONE:

Most of the time while I am making our meals, I am distracted by children (not distractions...let's call them opportunities for some major growth!), phone calls, having to let the puppy out, etc.  I am going to start cutting back my prep time by waiting until the kiddos are in bed and I can fully prepare for the next day's meals.  This is not to say I will not leave some things for my kids to do.  I actually think kids can prepare many parts of the meal.  If you can make it a part of your daily  routine, that is great.  But for the average parent who is busy trying to help get homework done, Sally off to soccer, and make it in time for the neighborhood book club, this might help. 

And it might even make some special time with your husband.  Why not prepare together?  Or have him going through paperwork at the table while you are preparing the pancake batter for tomorrow's breakfast.  It only takes about 10 minutes to make the batter, put it in the fridge, then set the plates, syrup, and skillet out just ready for the next day.  And while you are at it, write a quick note to say, "Good luck on that speech" or just a simple, "Good morning. I love you."

Next the Laundry Room:

 

TIP TWO:

If you have read any of my Christmas cards (from before three years ago), you would notice a trend:

I.hate.laundry.  (Please do not tell my kids I said this because we try not to say the h-word (hate), unless we are talking about sin, but really. . .laundry is pretty close to dirty sin. . .

Seriously, I talk about it in my Christmas letters.  Who does that?  But that is how much it permeates my life!

My time saver for this:

Do your laundry EVERY DAY.  Okay, I know . . . some of you will be thinking, "Yes, obviously, Angie, thanks for the take away tip that I took away many, many, years ago..."  But some of you might be in the camp of save it all for one day and get it all done that day.  My deal is that I want to be in the do it every day camp, but sometimes things get in the way and I forget, get too busy, decide to write a book, and it just does not get done.  SO, then I spend all weekend doing my laundry and it piles up all over my family room.  Clean  piles, but still piles...

Now, we have a basket that I put out in the hall and the kids put their clothes in it at the end of the day and I wash that load.  No more cleaning their rooms on Saturday and having a ton of folded clothes in the laundry bin.  I totally tried that growing up.  We actually had a wicker laundry bin that had a top on it.  I thought I was pulling a fast one on my mom until she busted me with the clothes that were still folded shoved into the bottom of the bin!

Best part, is you can do it while you are getting ready for tomorrow's meals!

On to the Study:

TIP THREE:

Two time eaters in this room:  computers and phones.  Or, if you have a smart phone, this could be the same thing.  When you use either one, it is easy to lose track of time.  "Check e-mail twice a day and return messages all at once.  You'll save an hour a day," suggests Kristine Breese, author of Cereal for Dinner: Strategies, Shortcuts & Sanity for Moms Battling Cancer.

One of my friends just made a resolution to take Facebook off her phone.  What a great way to get the most out of your day instead of being constantly updated and distracted.  On average, one study showed subjects checked their phones 34 times a day, not necessarily because they really needed to check them that many times, but because it had become a habit or compulsion.

Next the Car...(Okay, not exactly a room, but please show me a little grace):

TIP FOUR:

I am not a huge errand mama.  I know some ladies who seem to be "running errands" all the time.  I am always thinking to myself, "What are these people doing every day?  What am I supposed to be doing and am not?"  And then, when I run out of paper towels, tissue paper, and napkins at the same time, I understand a little bit better.

In order to save time, Molly Gold, whose company GoMom, Inc, creates mom-friendly products, encourages moms to map out your errands before you leave your house. "You'll save time if you make a circular route of your stops...and shave off two hours a week if you tackle a list with a partner."  Whether it is your husband on the weekends or a friend down the street.  My sister has a neighbor who will always call when she is making a Costco run.  My sister does the same.  They can save time taking turns. 

And the last one...

the Family Room:

TIP FIVE:

I absolutely love this one and this one will be the radical one for some and not so much for others.  Judith Wright, author of There Must Be More Than This: Finding More Life, Love, and Meaning by Overcoming  Your Soft Addictions, states, "If you establish one or more TV-free nights every week, families can gain back eight hours a week...since Americans, on average, watch four hours of TV a night."

Now, for some families, they might not watch TV during the week or maybe they only watch one show a week.  But for some others, maybe the die-hard getawholeseasonandwatchitonenight fans, this might save some time.

I know for me, if I get started watching something late at night with a yummy cheese stick snack, I can keep watching and keep eating. Instead of doing something a tad more productive or sleeping, I am wasting time.  Now, please hear this, I am not saying all TV is a waste of time.  Sometimes a fun 30 minute episode of American Funniest Home Videos is a perfect way to bring a family together.  I am saying, for me (and I am going to make my husband, fan of 24, do this too) the late nights of marathon episodes are done.

With the time I am saving, I am hoping to make more time for meaningful memories.  Precious MOMents.  The kinds of MOMents that makes us mamas love being a mom!

If I wanted "simple" I wouldn't have gotten a puppy...

So we got a puppy...

not the most simple gift, but...

Quite possibly the cutest puppy ANYWHERE!   And I should know. . . I had been looking for about 6 months to find the perfect dog, the perfect breeder, the perfect age to make this Christmas perfect for my four kids. 

And I think I did it!

It was a sweet memory, from the puppy being wrapped up in a beautiful Christmas box (don't worry...she could still breathe) to the kids not expecting, but wanting it so badly.

We had put some Legos in the box earlier in the week and put it under the tree, but right before we were going to open the box, I made an excuse that my husband, Mike, should go get a knife to cut off the outside so it didn't ruin the box.  Mike went out to the garage and made the switch. He dumped the Legos and put sweet puppy inside instead. (He had gone right before to go pick her up.)

The kids were thinking they were about to open a box full of Legos, because, of course, they shook it.  Or maybe my husband did.

But when they opened the box, it was the. best. Christmas. gift. ever.

Except for that tiny little baby Jesus that changed the world.  That was actually more than the best, that was Epic!

But as far as earthy presents go.  This one will top the list for quite some time!

It is more than just a surprise.  It was a little bit of hope wrapped up in a box.

It is hope for days of walking and Frisbee in the park.  Okay, maybe Frisbee with a tennis can top because this puppy is a little one.

It is hope for movie night snuggles and wet kisses.  "She is so soft and fluffy!!!"(Despicable Me)

It is hope for nights that we do not have to get up to take her out.  Okay, confession time, my husband takes her out every night.  I figured I did the four babies for many, many years...He rocks.  I am blessed.

It is hope for no more little smelly packages in the house.  Seriously, totally our fault.  You see how tiny she is?  With an itty bitty bladder and tummy? She needs to go out A LOT!

It is hope that she will know her name and come when she is called. Basically to obey our commands. 

To be trained well.  Similar to our children.  Our hope is in the Lord to guide us in training our children in the path that He shows and they will not deter from it.  He promises that to us:

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, 
he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

Oh Lord. . . that's a whole lotta training!

But I know that when we parents do this, God will reward us with a gift that we cannot even imagine in our children.  Because they really are His children, aren't they?

And do you think we do it alone?
 
God tells us:

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

    I will counsel you with my eye upon you.  Psalm 32:8

I am thankful for hope and for this tiny little bundle of sweetness!

A reminder for our kids and me to be ready for God to do amazing things and to know He wants to always give us more that we could ever ask or imagine!

Come to Me...

"Come to me with a teachable spirit, eager to be changed.  A close walk with Me is a life of continued newness." ~ Jesus Calling

May your year be one of hopes and dreams more than resolutions and plans.

May your year be full of grace rather than full of rules.

May you travel as one with a tour guide, completely trusting in the fact that He has gone before you.

And may you feel His presence in every day.

In every MOMent.

With every breath.

No more Happy New Year,  but

Joyful New Year to you!

What is giving all about today?

Gift #1 - Christmas

"I don't mind Christmas.  It's just all the shopping that makes me crazy!"

"Well, we didn't want to worry about celebrating during the crazy time with all the parties and concerts so we are planning on our Christmas party some time in January."

"I don't think we can give extra because we have all the gifts to buy this month."

These are the things I have heard from friends, neighbors, co-workers. 

And don't think our family is immune to the lack of Christmas spirit.  Oh, I thought we were when I heard this:


"I don't want any gifts this year," 

Oh, what a sweet sound to a proud mama's ears, but wait for it...wait for it...

"...no gifts, just money!"

Of course you do.

I know Christmas is about giving gifts to celebrate the most awesome gift of all, but why do we think it has to be the all encompassing part of Christmas.  Is there another way?

When I was a kid, I got one big gift that was actually usually from Santa (Why my parents let him get the credit for the good ones, I still wonder) and several smaller ones.

We had simple requests because we had less of a chance to compare with others.  Of course I might see the new purse my friend got, but there was no internet to see the hundreds, no thousands of purses I could be asking for.

 We were not lacking, but yet, we never I felt got too much. 

(Of course I didn't...I was a kid and probably still wanted more).

But today, it just feels all wrong.  Something is off with the heart of Christmas. 

When people are complaining of celebrating because of too much time spent on finding gifts, too much money spent on getting gifts, and too much time spent actually spent celebrating Christmas, something is lost.

I want to blame it on technology, but technology just helped me this evening find several facts about Woolly Mammoths for a report for my daughter so I can't shoot the messenger.

I want to blame it on the schedule we keep in order to keep up with sports, dance, church, serving.  But the truth is we all have the same amount of time.  It is just what we do with that time.

So, I need to blame it on myself.  What I have allowed giving to become in my heart.  I have allowed the fleeting happiness of a Wild West Sharp Shooter to replace eternal joy that my children might experience because they have sacrificed for another.

I have not given them enough credit to thoroughly approach the subject of not giving gifts to each other and instead use that money for others in need because really, those are the gifts that we can give to Jesus.  We have mentioned it before, but not really decided to have a paradigm shift in our family.

To give a family in Africa a flock of chicks for $20.00.  To give a child in the apartments your dollhouse.  To give a child his food for a year.

These are the catalogs we need to pour over:

the Compassion Catalog, Samaritan’s Purse Catalog, Partner’s International Catalog, World Vision Catalog

What will they say?

What will you?

My readers, will you pray as we search for what giving instead of getting means in our family?

It will be a tender lesson for us all. 

For the first time I casually brought it up, I heard,

"No presents, that is okay...Santa will just give us stuff." 

Clearly we have not gotten the message of  Biblical giving quite yet...

Stay tuned for the results of our family meeting.

And as I think of this,

I know gifts are not wrong.  God is the giver of perfect gifts.

I will start  counting my gifts of which #1 is our Christmas.

I look forward to naming to even more...

Crazy Little Thing Called Dinner

We recently went to an instrumental concert that played synthesized music incorporated with the Christmas Choruses that we love to hum, sing, and whisper quietly at night to sleeping babies.

This particular concert also had a video accompanying the music in order to (I guess) enhance the music.

Some of the videos were beautiful: candles lit on a dark night and one by one lighting up the room with the flickers of fire, snow covered trees with ice skaters gracefully moving while we swayed with them.

Some of the videos were a little more random: the sad drummer boy that never came back from the war, the psychedelic wisps of smoke that looked more like the lawn of a Woodstock concert. Groovy!

But there was one video that actually kept replaying throughout the concert.  It was of a medieval feast and it showed the men and women greedily eating the food all the while entertaining themselves with the artists of that time.  And I realized during that video, that really, my dinner is not much different.

We have the same cast of characters, just a little different attire:

Joker: Jumping into the feast with his flips and juggling act, I think of my child who loves to make us laugh, gets up during the meal in order to show one more trick he has learned that day. I thank God for his smile.

Dancer: Gracefully moving while her beauty is beheld, I think of my child who is growing more in ladylike beauty and gracefully guides little ones in her life. I thank God for her love.

Knight:  Quietly sitting back and yet will come to the dance if needed, I think of my child who sits back to speak his word and yet all the while encouraging the others with his laugh and encouragement. I thank God for his kindness.

Sword Swallower: Defying all sense of what is real and courageously goes on his own, I think of my child who lives in the light of pretend where kisses and Mickeys still exist in a little boy's heart. I thank God for his goodness.


And then I move on to me...what character do I play in this musical?

Sometimes I am the princess, on those days when I remember that I am the daughter of a king.
Sometimes I am the cook, feeding my little ones goodness.
Sometimes I am the gymnast, juggling carpools, homework, and my patience at times.


But sometimes, I do not want to be a character.  I don't want to enter the dance.  I don't want to eat the food.  I want to stay up in my high tower and be alone.  Waiting for the King.  My time to hear his whispers of how much He loves me.  And from that high tower, I will see a little baby being born. Crying in the night wrapped in a rough cloth and in the still night.  And if I listen hard enough, those cries of life will turn into cries of death for soon that baby will die for me.  The rough cloth being torn.  And the feast will be over.  The night will be still.

But then...

 the music plays and the light shines on for the Son of Man will rise and live again.

And I will join that dance, for he died and rose so I could be a part of that dance.
That feast.
This life.

What character are you in this feast of life today?