Since I've been so late getting everything else done around here, why should you be surprised that I'm what...a month or so late on finishing The Balancing Act series?
And I'm hoping you really won't be shocked when I point you to a couple of ladies who have the menu planning down to a science. My attempts pale in comparison.
So, go visit Joanne and Meredith. You'll find lots of great tips...I sure did!
January 17, 2009
January 16, 2009
Fade In
Last time, I tried to tie a bow around the Year of Peace & Simplicity. Now, halfway through January, it's time to announce where God & I are going in 2009 (better late than never, right?)
Last month, I read this quote from Contentment: A Godly Woman's Adornment (On-the-Go Devotionals)
by Lydia Brownback. This simple statement resonated with my very soul, and I knew God was up to something good!
See, the journey to peace isn't over. The next step in the journey is obedience. I can't step out in obedience unless I trust. Not just say that I trust God, but genuinely trust. My Theme Verse for 2009 sums it up best:
As we adjust to R's job change (and the financial change that comes with it), CJ's fast-approaching adolescence, and my upcoming trip to Peru, I keep hearing God whisper Trust Me! I'm desperately trying to set aside my need to control and micromanage, and instead trust and obey.
I hope you'll buckle up friends and join me for the ride!
Last month, I read this quote from Contentment: A Godly Woman's Adornment (On-the-Go Devotionals)
by Lydia Brownback. This simple statement resonated with my very soul, and I knew God was up to something good!Stepping out in obedience, even when we can't understand why or where it will all lead, is the only way we will find the peace we are yearning for...
See, the journey to peace isn't over. The next step in the journey is obedience. I can't step out in obedience unless I trust. Not just say that I trust God, but genuinely trust. My Theme Verse for 2009 sums it up best:
Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.~Proverbs 3:5-6 (AMP)
As we adjust to R's job change (and the financial change that comes with it), CJ's fast-approaching adolescence, and my upcoming trip to Peru, I keep hearing God whisper Trust Me! I'm desperately trying to set aside my need to control and micromanage, and instead trust and obey.
I hope you'll buckle up friends and join me for the ride!
January 14, 2009
Fade Out
Now that we're well into 2009, I guess I should let you know how 2008: The Year of Peace & Simplicity turned out, huh? As I've said many, many times during the past year, I don't know where to begin. God has been so amazingly good! He has recreated my life in such a way that I sometimes hardly recognize it.
Still, I've learned that maintaining peace and simplicity in my home and life requires effort on my part. I got out of whack during the holidays, and it didn't take long for things to spiral downward. Fortunately, I woke up before things got too out of control. Several weeks with no schedule or sense of true purpose made me realize that I wanted my structured, simple life back! I marvel that I lived any other way.
I'm not foolish enough to believe that I have obtained a perfectly simple, peaceful life. I have not, nor will I ever. I may have started the year expecting to arrive at the final destination in one year, but that certainly wasn't realistic. If nothing else, I learned that the journey will be life-long.
As my new bloggy friend, Keri Wyatt Kent, says so aptly in Breathe: Creating Space for God in a Hectic Life
:
I did a lot of downsizing and organizing this year. I knew I had to start there before I could hope to find simplicity. Intentionally focusing my time and energy in this manner was necessary for a short period...yet the journey to simplicity is a marathon, not a sprint.
According to my theme verse, it's the same for peace:
In order to have peace, I've got to be in right standing with the Lord. That's a continual process, a constant work. There's no way I won't return to my self-confident folly if I'm not depending oh Him.
Which brings me to 2009.
To be continued...
(P.S. - If you're curious about some of the lessons I learned this year, click on the labels to read more posts in these topics.)
Still, I've learned that maintaining peace and simplicity in my home and life requires effort on my part. I got out of whack during the holidays, and it didn't take long for things to spiral downward. Fortunately, I woke up before things got too out of control. Several weeks with no schedule or sense of true purpose made me realize that I wanted my structured, simple life back! I marvel that I lived any other way.
I'm not foolish enough to believe that I have obtained a perfectly simple, peaceful life. I have not, nor will I ever. I may have started the year expecting to arrive at the final destination in one year, but that certainly wasn't realistic. If nothing else, I learned that the journey will be life-long.
As my new bloggy friend, Keri Wyatt Kent, says so aptly in Breathe: Creating Space for God in a Hectic Life
:Simplicity is not a method. At its heart, simplicity is a relationship with God that is focused on Him and is growing, changing, evolving.
You can organize and downscale all you want, but if your heart isn't focused on Jesus, you won't live a simple life.
I did a lot of downsizing and organizing this year. I knew I had to start there before I could hope to find simplicity. Intentionally focusing my time and energy in this manner was necessary for a short period...yet the journey to simplicity is a marathon, not a sprint.
According to my theme verse, it's the same for peace:
I will listen [with expectancy] to what God the Lord will say, for He will speak peace to His people, to His saints (those who are in right standing with Him)--but let them not turn again to [self-confident] folly.~Psalm 85:8 (AMP)
In order to have peace, I've got to be in right standing with the Lord. That's a continual process, a constant work. There's no way I won't return to my self-confident folly if I'm not depending oh Him.
Which brings me to 2009.
To be continued...
(P.S. - If you're curious about some of the lessons I learned this year, click on the labels to read more posts in these topics.)
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