Hey, you guys!
I hope you are doing well! I have been busy working on habits and routines with my kids again. I have to remember it’s not just me here in this household running the place. It’s not even me and my little mini-me’s running around. Nope. It’s me and my personality versus four different little people with all very different personalities. And sometimes those clash. Sometimes we’re forces working against each other.
But we do not give up. It can be QUITE. THE. CHALLENGE some days. I could give you many, many examples of that, but I’ll refrain this time. Instead, I know that it is my job to steward the time we have well. It’s my job to figure out the best way to spend our days and how to make things function to the best of my ability. These kids have been given to me for a reason. God already knew all of the challenges and difficulties I’d face in raising them, in training them… but He’s equipped me to do those things.
So yep. Sometimes it’s a new chore chart (like the one I shared with you last week.) Sometimes it’s taking a step back from home school (or at least just doing it with a lighter approach) so that we can focus harder on home routines and habits that keep our household running more smoothly. And sometimes it’s revamping my cleaning system so I can maintain things and steward our household even better!
So yep, here’s my new cleaning routine. I’m using my monthly and weekly pages to keep track of it all. I’ll probably type it out and print multiple copies once I figure out exactly what I want it to include and make sure this is the best fit for me. I used FlyLady’s routines and zones as inspiration and tweaked it to make it work for us.
I’ve also been finishing up projects. Little things like switching the washer and the dryer around so that the doors open up the right way, and it’s easier to switch out the laundry. I can’t be the only one who has issues with things like this. Haha.
I’ve been decluttering. I’m checking things off the ole running project list. And let me tell you - it feels great! We’ve been in this home for a year now, and I’m seeing my vision for it come together bits and pieces at a time. I SO LOVE getting to be creative and making the plans and seeing those visions come together. It brings me so much joy!
Sometimes I think - what is the purpose in all of this?? Why do I want my home to be a certain way? I know that I, like many others, can struggle with the idea of perfectionism from time to time and comparing myself and my home to others’. Sometimes I think - these things don’t matter. It’s so materialistic for me to make all these plans and designs, and I feel bad about that for a second.
I’m just really hard on myself sometimes, and that’s something I’m working on too… how I talk to myself. But then I think… and I just want you to know, too, that’s there IS purpose in this. It’s not just materialistic. Yes, there have definitely been times when I’ve spent too much money on things that weren’t really needed. Haven’t we all?!
But now… my husband has taken over the finances. I still spend money, but we make a lot of those spending decisions together now. There is accountability that we didn’t have before, and God has blessed that. There was stewardship with it before, and we were striving for goals and reaching them, but now it’s just at a whole ‘notha level. He does an amazing job because he has a different perspective about it than I do. I felt emotional about spending and the needs and wants of myself and my children sometimes, and he sees things more in black in white - which really helps our budget tremendously. Sometimes it’s a “no”, or a “wait”. (Kind of like God and our prayers, huh?!) But it’s for the good of our budget and financial plans. We are living BELOW our means now… not right at them or a little above like we were before. ;-)
Ah, sorry I’m rambling. I definitely saw a rabbit there and chased it.
Back to what I was saying about our homes…
#1 God is a creator. We are made in his image. So that means we were designed to be creators too. That could be creating in the usual aspects of the word - crafts, arts, music, writing, but it could also be creativity in our homes - in designing a space that works best for us and our families, it can be creating beautiful meals that nourish our bodies and those of our families (it’s even accommodating for picky eaters and dietary needs - SO MUCH CREATIVITY there, am I right?!). It can be creativity in how we teach and train our children, creativity with how we host guests and provide that environment that’s so refreshing and just so needed.
#2 It’s worship. Everything we do is worship, if we do it unto the Lord. It’s what we’re spending our time on. I can’t tell you just how much gratefulness I’ve experienced this year by being in this home that’s meeting all of our needs right now. God is SO GOOD in how He provides for us. He knows just what we need and desire and He brings those all together for His good. When I spend time designing, creating, and planning to organize a space or make it more homey, it’s not just for me so I can have the latest and greatest. I very much feel that it’s a part of my worship as I give it all back to the Lord and use it for His purposes.
I’m very blessed to be where I am… I am very blessed by this home, but it’s also to bless others. I read somewhere this week that our homes should be the antidote to stress, not the cause of it. I love that. I want to create a life-giving home. I want it to meet the needs and even some of the desires that my husband, children, and I have for this place that we live and love. I’m a homemaker. I’m making “home”. I’m taking this house God has blessed us with, and I’m stewarding it into the safe place where we all find happiness, laughter, memories, and so much love. I want to set up the perfect environment for my kids to learn and play and grow. I’m taking all of their needs into consideration. Many, many of their wants are met as well. (And honestly, most of those are not of our doing. My kids must be faithful prayer warriors as well. We tell them to pray about their wants and desires, and we’ve seen so many of those prayers answered this year as well!)
I’m so excited to be able to use our home again this year to host small groups. I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed having a home that’s large enough to host small groups, little parties, and holidays this year. That has always been a dream of mine. It’s a place where I can have other mamas over to teach them about planning and homeschooling. We have room to talk and work, and our kids have room to play.
So yeah, I’ve decided that it is totally okay to spend time and money on our homes. It’s not always a materialistic thing… It definitely could be, just like anything else, so keep it in check. I think creating an homey environment can be a beautiful thing. Keep it within your budget, and don’t let it take priority over the things that you need to be spending your time on first. If it’s something that’s going to make your life easier, bless you or others, if it’s within your means, find a way to make it work for you.
That’s what I’ve been doing. I’ve been doing a lot of the projects that just required time… the ones that didn’t require me to spend any extra money necessarily. I’ve checked some things off like “re-organizing the file system”, purging kids’ toys and clothes again, or moving some furniture around to make things work better for us. Definitely use what you have first, and budget and plan for the others when it’s time.
As I’ve shared my little projects on my social media accounts or as people come into my home, this is the one thing I get asked about the most - Home Organization. (They don’t ask me about cleaning, because my house is definitely NOT always clean. Haha. But it gets tidy at least once a day. Everything has a place, and I feel good about it.)
They always joke about me coming to do their home to organize it for them, and I’ve never felt like I was in a place to do it. I am my kids’ main child care provider, after all. ;-) And honestly, I just haven’t been in the right place to be able to do it. Now, I feel like my home and systems are set up to work so well that I’m finally about to embark on this journey to help others in their homes… to help YOU if you’ll let me!
So, here we go! I’d love for you to help me add to My Purposeful Planning Portfolio by letting me plan a purposeful, functional, and beautiful design for your place! I’ll help you declutter, shop for your organizational pieces and decor, and put it all together for you!
You guys, I am SO EXCITED about this! Basically, it’s where instead of me teaching you how to do all these things, I can just plan it out and do it all for you! You can hire me to organize your food pantry, your closet, your kids’ playroom, the mudroom, or any other place in your home or business that you have in mind! I’ll create a functional and purposeful design plan that meets all of your needs, fits your style, and put it all together for you in a beautiful way!
Update from Last Week’s Goals:
Habits I’m Tracking & Working On Right Now… (done!)
Workouts
Logging Meals
Prayer Journaling
Skincare
Praying with My Kids
Continue reading, note-taking, and journaling through the book I’ve been reading through this past year, In Want and Plenty by Meredith McDaniels. (done! I finished the book this week.)
Continue reading through the Awaken Devotional by Priscilla Shirer… 90 Days with the God who Speaks. (I actually decided to go back to my regular Bible reading plan.)
Re-Organize Office File System. (done!)
Work on a blog post update of my 2020 yearly goals. (I worked on it, but I didn’t complete it.)
Record a podcast episode for my 2021 Yearly Goals and Word of the Year. (I did not do this.)
Continue to work on clearing my digital phone clutter. (Pictures, Videos, Notes, Contacts, Apps, etc.) (done and in progress!)
Continue working on habits/routines with the kids. (done!)
Host a play-date with a mama friend and her little ones. (done!)
Revamp my Deep Cleaning Routine for our Home. (done!)
This Week’s Goals:
Habits I’m Tracking & Working On Right Now…
Workouts
Logging Meals
Prayer Journaling
Skincare
Praying with My Kids
And I guess you could say I’m tracking my new Cleaning Routine as wellBegin reading and note-taking through a book I got for Christmas, Switch on Your Brain by Dr. Caroline Leaf.
Continue reading through my Bible reading plan.
I’m using The Bible Recap’s chronological reading plan from Year 2. I started this plan at the beginning of 2020, and I took time off from it to study other applicable things throughout the year like the studies I did on Fear and Anxiety. I keep coming back to it in between, though, and every time I just do the next day’s reading and podcast episode and keep chugging along. Some would consider me to be “behind” on the reading plan, and that may be true, but I still find that God’s Word is so very timely to what I need each and every time I read and study it. I’ve outlined the days that I want to complete over the next few months before I begin Bible Roadtrip Year 2 (Job through Malachai) with my children for homeschool. I’m hoping that we can read and study together, and I’ll be able to incorporate The Bible Recap episodes as a great supplement for our studies. I’m excited to get back to the Bible Roadtrip with them soon though, because I feel like teaching them HOW to study God’s Word is SUCH a vital skill to learn… and it will be very beneficial to them, even at such a young age. The Bible Roadtrip is very age-appropriate (From Preschool all the way to High School or Adult), but it teaches Bible Study skills, and I can’t rave about it enough.Hang wire shelves in master bathroom.
Focus on keeping the counters clear this week.
Reach out and connect to extended family members.
Continue to work on clearing my digital phone clutter. (Pictures, Videos, Notes, Contacts, Apps, etc.)
Continue working on habits/routines with the kids.
Attend a play-date with a mama friend and her little ones this week.
Upload additional videos I’ve made to my Online Course.
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