Life Happens and Lent

So here is the big reveal of my now highly organized closet!

Do you recognize anything???

If you look closely...


Very closely...


You will see...


that...


this is not my closet!

:-)

Did I get you??

So last Friday was supposed to be the big reveal for my closet...

There is a saying that my friends in Mary Kay like to use for situations like these... "Life happens."


I am amazed at my ability to be so busy even without a foster child. Just when you think you are going to have a "normal" week, it never happens, does it? Since last week (and this week) turned out to be so much more chaotic than I expected, I hope to have the closet ready for your viewing pleasure sometime over the week-end. :)


So instead of a closet reveal, I am switching topics a little to talk about something very special to me... Lent.

Here goes...

As Christians, 40 days before Easter, we fast and pray to prepare for the celebration of Christ's death and resurrection.

The general gist is that we practice giving something up (traditionally it is food) so that we can learn to hunger for God, so to speak. We take out something that distracts us from God so our focus on our relationship with Him can be stronger. These days there are lots of things- not just food- that we over saturate ourselves with that we can give up to achieve that goal.

In my circle of protestant Christians, it is not necessarily a given that everyone will fast. It is more of a choice, and honestly I can't even remember if I gave something up last year. (I do remember though that my friends Kristan and Chase did the Daniel fast and I thought they were a little bit insane ;) ). This year I have gone back and forth about what I want to give up or change for this season and finally this past week-end I think I figured out what I am going to do.

I know I keep referencing our experience with foster care over the last few months but it really has taught me so much. During a time of crisis, it was interesting how close to God I felt all the time. I constantly ran to Him for peace in the midst of chaos, for clarity in the midst of confusion, guidance when we had to make difficult decisions and the grace to cover over them.

Somewhere in the new testament (forgive me for not knowing the reference) it says "In our struggles we know Christ". This has always proven true in my experience, but in the last few months it was even more true (if it is possible for something to be "more" true). I relied on God daily because I had to. Without Him and the prayers we constantly asked for from others, I don't think we would have survived the time with our foster son well at all. Without God's help, I don't think we would have lasted a week with him.

The whole relying on God aspect of fostering left me with a taste in my mouth of desiring God's presence even more. As I have mentioned before I am not a self-disciplined person. I am externally motivated- meaning it is difficult for me to do things like read my Bible every day just because it's a good thing. I read my Bible when I am excited about knowing God! This is dangerous though, because when I am not excited, I settle for less.

After a conversation with my sister on Saturday, we identified that we both have trouble putting off things that we need to do in favor of things we want to do. For example, I may need to wash the dishes, but I want to watch Gilmore Girls. Guess which one I usually do more of?

Then as I sat in church on Sunday I realized that even more deeply than being a little bit spoiled, I actually find "coasting" or "existing" (as in not straining forward toward a goal or purpose) familiar and comfortable. I feel "at home" in my life when I am sitting around on my bum- not really a stellar thing to admit about yourself, but you only improve when you can be honest about where you are, right? Working a job, or going to school and then coming home and not doing much was what my family did growing up. It made sense for my parents- they were already where they wanted to be in life- good jobs, my dad had his own business, raising kids, being involved in a church. So they were exhausted at the end of the day! For me though, I have realized whenever I am at home (even though home is my work now!), it is familiar and comfortable for me to walk around in my PJ's and watch TV a lot or generally not do much of anything.

Now don't get me wrong... I do stuff! I take care of my daughter, volunteer with our church, teach ballet, have a part-time business of my own and watch kids a couple of times a week. But the work-at-home stuff is what I like to procrastinate about since I have this correlation that at home means "time off".

So anyway, on Sunday it dawns on me. As I listen to our pastor speak, the word intentionality comes to mind. Intentionality is what I am lacking. Coasting is what I need to fast this Lent Season, and I can do that by being intentional in my whole life (similar to my thinking about needing to make a plan) but especially in the area of my relationship with God.

This is what I mean by that.

As I said before, I tend to read my Bible when I am excited about what God is doing, when I need to teach a Bible study or if I am searching for answers. I pray for others when people come to mind or they ask me to, but although I pray daily, it is usually without any structure, rhyme or reason. Now I'm not saying that it's not okay to pray that way- because it is. I'm not even saying that it's wrong to not read your Bible every day- before the printing press hardly anyone had them. But what I am saying is that doing these things intentionally will draw me close to God. They will help me sense Him and understand Him, and praying for others regularly and specifically will deepen my heart of compassion for people as well as benefit them to be covered in prayer!

I am so excited to begin this journey of being intentional with prayer and time with God daily and letting this one idea seep into the rest of my life.

So tell me, (if you feel comfortable sharing) what are you fasting for Lent? And what led you to that decision?

Birthday Inspiration via Pinterest

Today I got to spend some time finding inspiration for Melody's 2nd birthday.

Lately Melody has been learning her ABC's from a LeapFrog video we got her for Christmas. I thought it would be so cute to do an Alphabet birthday party for her and hear her say her letters all afternoon. I got excited thinking about decorating with letters all around the house and then using them later for educational use!

Here are some ideas I like for our party. Click on the links to find out more about them.

DIY birthday invitations

Printable template birthday invitation

An idea for a photo wall at the party. I would make it my own, but I love the idea!


Free printables I could hang as decorations.


Thank you Martha Stewart for this banner and game idea!


And last but not least, an idea for a cupcake cake.


Now that you have seen the ideas, I guess you will have to wait until after Melody's birthday (the end of March) to see it all come together!

In the mean time, if you have any other alphabet birthday ideas, be sure to send them my way!

Project Simplify

While I have been spending more time browsing creative ideas online lately, I have come across some amazingly inspiring blogs in the last week or so.

After having emotional chaos in my home for two months, I feel pretty desperate to make my home as peaceful as possible. I want the outside to reflect (and influence) the inside of me if at all possible. You know, the "your outside reflects your insides" kind of thing. I want there to be peace in both places.

There is something about having all of your time not belong to you for awhile that makes you realize how much time you really have when it is given back to you.

I no longer think that I don't have enough time to work on decluttering and organizing. Yes, almost every room in my house needs some serious attention. But yes, it will be well worth the effort if I give my home the attention it needs.

Enter simplemom.net.

On her website, I found her challenge to simplify one spot in your home each week for her spring cleaning she does each year. Kind of like my own challenges to declutter one spot in our home each week- except I don't have a cool button like her. :)

(imagine her cool button here, that I cannot get to work because I am not computer savvy enough :-/ )

I am going to join with simple mom and continue decluttering my house, but I will be trying to conquer bigger tasks than I was doing previously. For example, this week I will be working all week on clearing out our bedroom closet. I wanted to start somewhere else but am realizing that storage is a major issue in our 1940's house. There are three bedroom closets, one linen closet (sort of), and ZERO closets for the rest of the house. I know that if I can begin to clear the clutter in our bedroom, then as I go through the rest of the house finding things that need appropriate storage it will be nice if there is actually room to put them away.

Then there is this website: smallnotebook.org where the author's name is Rachel also.

This blog is special. I am telling you. Rachel writes with such heart- I didn't know it was possible for one person to write so many inspiring posts. Each one gives you the sense that you are gleaning a little golden nugget of timeless truth. Each time I read something, I want to put it away in a special place where I can come back and read it over and over (I guess that's why her blog is there though :) ). She has got me thinking about some storage solutions for my small house and about living frugally and with focus.

Then there is Jen over at I heart organizing. This post, made me realize that I don't just need to de-clutter things, I also need to figure out what my real problem in an area is v. just cleaning it up. If I actually find a (cheap) solution to fix the lack of organization then maybe I won't have to keep coming back to this same place of being overwhelmed by the messy trail I can't seem to help but leave behind me. Maybe I can change my messy trail to a cute organized trail... Maybe?

What areas of your home or your life need addressing? Which do you think you will address first?

Join me on Friday to see my bedroom closet all organized!

Make a Plan

Week-end chit-chat
How was your week-end? My highlights have been treating myself to a ten-minute facial mask in the shower on Saturday, getting my nails done (a $5 box of fake nails from Wal-Mart = all I can afford) and taking the time to shave my legs. (Is that a treat for anyone else?) We also had our first snow this week-end! Lots and lots of it!

Such a restful week-end has left me recharged and rejuvenated to tackle some new things that I can't wait to share with you this week. So, without further adieu...

The real post
After saying good-bye to our foster son a week and a half ago, it feels like our life has changed enormously. In all reality, it has morphed back into what it used to be... but it feels different.

One thing I really enjoyed during those 7 weeks, and even the months of preparation leading up to his arrival, was how focused we were on a specific reason for living. Each day was planned out and had purpose with specific goals, all the way down to when and how I cleaned and the types of words I used to describe certain things. If it wasn't planned that way, then we achieved so much less in our relationship with our foster son and in dealing with his specific needs. Without that plan, all hell was very likely to break loose on any given day.

The pressure in that situation was not something I enjoyed, but since he has gone, I have sincerely missed the ability to have such a great focus- such a specific plan. The type of plan where you never even wonder if you should be deviating from it. You just know that you have to keep marching forward without looking to the right or left, without looking backward.

Now that he is gone and life is no longer a daily crisis, it is much harder to stay motivated toward a goal each day. My husband and I know that our purpose is to give God glory in all things. We know that part of our plan is to have a family life that honors God in how we are married and how we raise our daughter, but that idea is still rather open ended. Wanting to give God glory doesn't exactly tell you what to do when you get out of bed on Monday morning, you know what I mean? This is especially difficult if you are like me and are very externally motivated.

In the last couple of weeks, "you have to make a plan" is a theme I keep bumping into in the voices of people around me and through the blogs I'm reading. In my heart, I feel like Someone is trying to tell me something... So last week my wonderful hubby allowed me some soul searching time to go to Barnes and Noble while he took care of the little one. While drinking coffee and doodling in a notebook, I tried to wrap my head around some things in life that I felt needed a more specific plan.

Here is what I came up with...

• Grocery Shopping- Doing this on Monday mornings (like I described here) has been working out really well. I'm going to continue making this a regular thing.
• Detail Cleaning- As I mentioned before, finding time to do what Fly Lady would call a "weekly home blessing" (bathroom cleaning, mopping, vacuuming, etc) has been difficult for me- especially since I really don't like doing it! While our foster son lived with us we had someone come do these things once a week while I grocery shopped which was amazing, but she is no longer able to help us and we are not really able to pay anyone anymore. I know I should try to do this in small little time pieces throughout the week, but if I don't do it all at once every week, it will honestly never get done. So I have come up with this solution. Mondays after Christian gets home from work is going to be Daddy-Daughter time so I can clean without the Melody underfoot. I'm not sure why I never thought of Christian watching Melody so I can get this done before, but I'm glad I have now!
  
• Date Night- Monday's watching The Voice... this may not seem exciting to you, but it is our idea of an extremely good time!
  
• Writing & Blog Time - I am giving myself permission to pursue writing more. I will be able to do this during Melody's naps and during the evenings we don't have other things scheduled (usually twice a week ish). This includes once a week planning time to help me stay focused on what topics I will be writing about and when I will be working on them.
  
• Have a Regular Bed Time (about 10pm)- I am so bad at implementing this (as evidenced by the fact that I am working on this post at 2 am), but need this structure so much. Getting enough sleep is something I really need to be doing for myself. Going to bed a little earlier will give me time to read and wind down before bed which helps me fall asleep more easily.
• Use my monthly planner- I love using a monthly planner even more than a weekly planner. Writing things down in it makes me more aware of what is going on in my life, when things need to be done and keeps me from getting over scheduled/committed.
  

I know from the surface these plans may seem arbitrary, but these simple things are what make up my life: loving my husband, caring for my family and my home (i.e. cleaning), using my creative talents and taking care of myself. When these things don't function well, I don't feel any good at being me. Just knowing I have guidelines in place for taking care of some of the more important aspects of my life allows me to feel peaceful... no, scrath that... Having guidelines makes me feel Peaceful -with a capital P- as in I am aligned with God's plan for my life. Having the basic things down gives me enough room for margin that when unexpected things are thrown our way, maybe we can, with His help, catch them gracefully. Being in that kind of state is a gift that not every family gets, but as long as we can that is the kind of place I want to strive to stay in as a family. Content in the day to day, with room to handle the unexpected.

Happy Monday everyone!