Let's Chat...

Hi, everyone! I have missed our interactions over the last few months, but truthfully, I've not had the time to do any quality writing or live videos. To say that life is full is an understatement. BUT, I've been convicted of the fact that it doesn't have to be that way, nor should it be.

We've all at one time or another bought into the lie that we should have a full or overflowing schedule. "How are you?", we might be asked. "So busy!", is often my response! We proclaim it as if it were the crucible we are forced to wear or some badge of honor that all moms are expected to wear. We are too tired to cook dinner; too frustrated to read a bedtime story; to exhausted to give our husbands any attention in the evening once babies are in bed; and we are certainly too spent for any meaningful time with God.

Ladies, we've got to stop the madness. Our kids will live if we tell them no football for one season. They won't fail in life if they don't learn how to do a cartwheel. But, they will struggle emotionally if we are always frazzled and frenzied from an overflowing planner. Our house won't crumble to the ground if we leave the dishes alone for some time in the Bible. And our kids will never understand what a real, living relationship with Christ is like if we aren't showing them ourselves. Nothing will benefit your child more than seeing mom (and hopefully dad) in a thriving, authentic, head-over-heels relationship with Jesus.

Don't be guilted into saying "yes" to every opportunity that presents itself. You've got to first give God, your husband, and your kids your BEST. A good rule to follow is of course to always pray about the situation first, then ask a couple of questions (in no particular order):

1. Will this fit into our schedule? (Do I already have something else in this time slot?)
2. Will this be detrimental to our spiritual life as a family? (Does it squeeze out church or church activities? Will it make us too tired to have our family devotion time?)
3. Is this something that can wait another year or two? Sports, dance, music lessons- we are all too eager to put our three-year-olds in tumbling class, but too busy to take them to Sunday School! (And this is a tumbling teacher writing!)

Two books that I recommend on this subject of family scheduling are "Your Best Yes" by Lysa TerKeurst, and "Instructing a Child's Heart" by Ted and Margy Tripp.

But the best advice that you can receive comes of course from God's Word, the Bible. Here are a few scriptures that help me in my decision making:

1 Corinthians 10:23 (KJV) says,
All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.


I love the KJV of this verse. The word "edifying" is very poignant: if this activity doesn't edify you or your loved ones, then most likely it needs to be a "no."

And then one of my life-verses from 2 Timothy 2:22:
"So flee youthful passions (or useless activities), and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace along with those who call on the LORD from a pure heart."

We are instructed here to run away from ("flee") our fleshly passions. This isn't just referencing our sexual desires as this verse is often only used for. This is any desire or choice that is not edifying.

If your initial reaction to a new opportunity or activity is "I just don't know how I will make time for this," then you should probably say no. Run away from anything that will not benefit your family's spiritual/relational or mental health.

And just so know you, this is all just a sermon that I'm writing to myself. ;) 

This would also be a really good segue into the story of how we have decided to for-sure homeschool our kids once this school year ends. But... I'll save that for another day. :)



Now on to my meal-planning as of late:

At the start of the new year I signed up for e-meals. It is a weekly meal planning service with several different meal-type options. You can also add items directly from the app to our instacart. It's a very good service, and I've gotten a lot of new recipes from it. I still like to throw in some long-standing family favorites, but when I'm not feeling like thinking too hard, I just open up the app, choose a couple of meals, and add them to my grocery list.

Blessings to you and yours!