~ This month's topics: More Decluttering, Leaning on God, Finding Family Time, Simple Living Books ~  Boy, April was surely a whirlwind of a month! There was not much simple living going on in my home! Let’s see, where should I start…so much to share with you this month! Ok, my hubby, Jim, finished the wallpapering in the foyer (looks fabulous!) and we began to tackle the family room and are almost done with it. Both areas look sooooo much better! Only 2 more rooms to paper in 1999! I had promised Jim that I would be done building my website by the end of April and I did manage to reach my goal. For those of you keeping up with the Mrs. Sharp’s Traditions excerpts, I now have everything typed up on my website. I may add things in the future and will note these updates on the main page, but for now I’m done typing up excerpts from the book. I am glad I took on that challenge of sharing with you Mrs. Sharp’s Traditions because it helped me see some traditions I would like to begin in my home and it "forced" me to read through the book, something I just couldn’t find the time to do in my "spare time." One topic she did touch on is the importance of rituals for children and I have to admit that I haven’t been very happy with our dinner or bedtime rituals for a long time. We’ve never really eaten dinner together as a family, so I decided that we needed to begin eating together as often as we can. While my parents were here visiting (they just moved to Tennessee and are now only several hours away!), my mom and I worked on taking down the playroom and converting it back to the dining room it should be. We managed to get all the toys upstairs in their rooms and in the hallway closet (I think the kids like it!). I’m happy to say that the dining room is now being used! The kids think it’s great fun to eat at the table with their parents, although we have a long way to go towards eating together every night. We have also begun to change that final hour of the day so it’s not so rushed and I have more time to read books, talk and begin to teach my kids the importance of prayers. It has changed the atmosphere in our home a bunch to make the bedtime with the kids a priority instead of another "chore" that must be done. A big change that I must note is that I’ve abandoned the Simple Abundance book that I so highly recommended in the beginning of my story. Without offending anyone who likes this book (or the author herself), I would like to share with you why I quit reading this book after welcoming God into my life in March. First of all, the book seemed to me to be more about taking a journey of introspection in order to try and attain a life of simple abundance. I can no longer do this because I’m looking outward to my LORD for His guidance in attaining the life HE believes I should be living! I must say that it is a much easier journey to look to Him than it is to look inside myself. I know that God will provide for me and my family all that we need to enjoy a good life here on earth while we are waiting to reach His kingdom! How freeing a concept this has been for me this month. I did begin my month with a goal of a morning devotional before I began my day. However, I fell "off the wagon" as I determined to finish up the website. But I know this was Divine guidance because there were many mornings when I prayed to God, "Just please let me find the time today to finish X, Y, and Z on my website so that I may return more time to You and my family" and, incredibly, I would be able to find the time that day to do what I wanted to do! I know that He wants me to put Him first, but He also knows I hate unfinished projects because He knows me better than I know myself! What a gracious God to help me in the little things as well as the bigger picture! I was able to find some time to read a few books in April. With the nice warm days we’ve been having, the kids have been outside and I try to make the time to sit outside with them (instead of inside cleaning house or Internetting!) and catch up on my reading and letter-writing. I read a great book on "simple living" that I would recommend, A Woman's Guide To A Simpler Life by Andrea Van Steenhouse Ph. D. (click on the title to order). She covers all aspects of one’s life and gives easy-to-use advice for paring down one’s commitments. The following excerpt comes from the dustjacket, this book will help you "….clear your mind and your closets, making space for what you truly value: your work, your home, your family, your friendships, and your traditions….This book shows women how to set limits and create more space for leisure, friends and peace of mind. Dr. Van Steenhouse identifies three key obstacles to simplification: the fear of appearing selfish, the tug of internal resistance, and the trap of perfectionism. " It is definitely a book worth reading! Some new authors that I am becoming more familiar with are Emilie Barnes and Cynthia Heald. I am currently reading Heald’s A Woman's Journey To The Heart Of God (which can be accompanied by her A Journal For The Journey). Emilie Barnes has written many books on time management and organization (15 Minutes Alone with God, Emilie Barnes' 15 Minute Home & Family Organizer, Simply Organized; The Life You've Always Searched For...But Were Too Cluttered To Find and The 15 Minute Meal-Planner as well as books on creating a beautiful, welcoming and comforting home on a budget (Beautiful Home On A Budget, 15 Minute Family Traditions And Memories, Decorating Dreams On A Budget and Welcome Home, the book I purchased this month and really enjoyed reading!) Ms. Barnes also writes devotional books (I’ve not read any yet) and many of her titles center around the idea of "tea time," which I believe shows that she believes in the idea of taking some time out in our day for ourselves! Boy, there is many days that I wish "tea time" was a part of my day! (To view the books by Ms. Barnes or Ms. Heald available for purchase at Books.com, just click on their names!) If you have read any books by Ms. Barnes or Ms. Heald and would like to share your thoughts with me, please email me! You know I love a good book! I continue to use The Weigh Down Diet book as my guide for simplifying my eating lifestyle and you can read more about my journey on my Weigh Down Journal page. It’s truly amazing how little food I really need to sustain myself, but still keep me energized and able to get through my day. I actually feel more energized now that I’m eating less! At the beginning of my simple living story, I talked about my desire to exercise and I have begun a morning prayer walk this final week of April. Before we got Internet service a few years ago, I would get up when my husband rose to shower and I would begin my day by straightening the house, maybe reading a few chapters in a book and, of course, showering after my husband was finished and getting ready for my day. I liked this routine because it started my day on a positive note. (Of course, all of this took place before the kids awoke and began their day). However, once we got Internet service, I began to use that morning "me" time to surf and this left me with more to do once the kids were up. This really changed the atmosphere in my home….things became tense, negative and rushed. I had this "I-have-so-much-to-do-and-no-time-to-do-it" attitude which overwhelmed my day! Well, I’m glad to say that I’m trying to get back to the "old times" and so far, so good. As I told a friend yesterday, "I began my morning prayer walk today and it felt great! Before it was a chore, but now it's not because I get to spend 30 uninterrupted minutes with my Father whom I grow to love more every day. He's helping me in so many ways right now, not the least being my role as mother. I still have my bad moments each day, but I know that He is there to help me if I just ask! What an awesome God!" Not only am I exercising my body which I do hope will help me shed this extra weight and tone up, but I’m also exercising my "spiritual" muscles which I have just found in the past few months …. I know they need lots of exercise! I hope I don’t sound like I don’t have my struggles because I definitely do! I will register Jenna for Kindergarten in May and a big part of me does not want her going to public school, but Jim and I have made a commitment to her that she can go and we are not going back on our promise. She really wants to go and we actually need her to go so that we can see where she is deficient (regarding her hearing loss) in group situations. I struggle with making time for my kids during the day (i.e. getting down on their level and joining their play). For example, one of the kids will want me to play a game or read a book and many times I just don’t want to drop what I’m doing and "get down on their level." I know that I really need to work on this and I will try to do this in the coming months. I definitely struggle with making sure I make time for my husband. I purchased a Devotionals for Couples book in anticipation of us making the time to take a few minutes each evening to read our Bible and discuss the devotional together. Unfortunately, we’ve not made this commitment yet….just too much going on in April. Why is it that when we need more time to "do things" we automatically take it from our spouse or loved ones? That is so backwards ~ we should be taking time from "doing things" and putting it back towards our families! Deep down we know this, but we just don’t do it! Well, now that my website-building time is so little, I hope to invest more time in my family since they are so important to me. I’m also still struggling with our finances. Although we got our credit card paid off, we continued to use it instead of paying cash for things or waiting till we had the cash to purchase the items. By looking at my budget on paper, I should have money left over at the end of the month and I haven’t had any "extra" money for several months now .... definitely time to open another account and begin to pay ourselves first! Those are just few of my struggles, but I wanted you to know that although I’ve been able to "simplify" in some areas, there are other areas which need a lot of work! May is fast upon me and I plan on holding my annual yard sale sometime in May. Converting the playroom back into the dining room really showed me just how many toys my kids have and don’t play with! I managed to weed out a bunch of toys and will be glad to see them find new homes. I also hope that May proves to be a time of new beginnings at my home: my prayer walking, finding more time for family, friends and fun, getting my finances in order once again and making more time for my husband. I tell him all the time how much I love him and appreciate him and his hard work which allows me to stay home with the kids, but I need to make him a higher priority in my life so that we can grow in our newly-found faith together! I hope you have a great month of May! WHERE DO YOU WANT TO GO?
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