Stress

How To Live a Life That Matters

April 16, 2012 By Courtney 26 Comments

Today we have a special guest! It’s the brilliant Sarah Mae!

Sarah Mae is the author of several eBooks, including her newest eBook, Frumps to Pumps – Your one-month guide to getting dressed and staying that way, and two soon-to-be-published books, Desperate (Thomas Nelson) and Having a Martha House the Mary Way (Tyndale). She is the owner of the community site Allume.com and the co-host of the national Christian women’s social media conference, Allume Social.

Sarah Mae spends her days homemaking, home- educating, writing, reading, slinging ideas, and drinking smoothies (now that she’s given up coffee).

Her family embraces life in the beautiful Amish countryside of Pennsylvania. You can find her writing almost daily at sarahmae.com.

Photo Credit: Wooden Cross Copy

You can’t go back.

The days roll forward with indifference; It’s up to you to make them count. It’s up to you how you shape and stretch the hours to form the life you choose to live.

“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” Annie Dillard

Your children are at your mercy with their hours and their days and their mornings and their nights. You are the god of their time. Are you digging your fingers into the clay that is the moments and molding something worth keeping?

How are your days?

Yes, you’re tired, I know. Some days you wish you could just have clear direction; you wish that the voice of the One would speak louder than the voices of those who you aim to please. You want to please Him, but those voices…that person who you feel like you must live up to, or offer defense of your choices, or feel unworthy compared to them. If you just knew what to do, or what was pleasing to God, or who to listen to, you’d follow. In the depths of your heart you’re surrendered to the man who hung on the cross. The man who says, “Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”

You want to follow; you want your days and the hours to matter. You want to push out the voices and cling to the One voice that matters. You want to live well and have integrity.

Here’s how you live a life that matters:

You choose surrender to the cross. You stop trying, you surrender.

You count the cost of your “yes.” The yes to surrender, the yes to the bible study or the book club or the blog or travel or alone time or…

Every “yes” has a cost that a wise person must weigh.

“For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?” Luke 14:28 (NASB)

The only “yes” you should give without reserve is that to serve for Christ’s sake. The cross is heavy and painful and blood stained. If you choose it, you choose surrender. You choose to serve and to lay down.

“Simply put, if you’re not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can’t be my disciple.” Luke 14:33 (MSG)

We must not love anything or anyone more than Jesus. But I believe that when we love Him above all, esteem Him above all, and surrender to Him before all, He will mold our moments.

He will knead and roll and create beauty and life out of this clay, the clay that can only but be still before Him.

Let Him mold you and your days. Whisper off your mornings to Him, being conscience that you will accept the shape He gives. Say yes to Him, and guard your “yes” otherwise. Count the cost of your “yes.” Serve. And by the way, serving doesn’t mean you do more. When you serve “the least of these” you are serving Jesus. I think for many of us, the “least of these” is the eternal ones in our care. Don’t forget to serve your family.

“The dedicated life is the life worth living. You must give with your whole heart.” -Annie Dillard

What are you dedicated to? Do your hours match that dedication?

_______________________

I encourage you to visit Sarah Mae over at SarahMae.com. Subscribe to her blog and receive her newest ebook Frumps to Pumps - Your one-month guide to getting dressed and staying that way, FREE ! You can find her being social on Twitter @sarahmae and on Facebook.com/sarahmaewrites.

Walk with the King,

Filed Under: Regret, Simplify, Stress

5 Disciplines~Week 2 – Time Management

April 15, 2012 By Courtney 36 Comments

First let me begin with a Week 1 update: My “Body Challenge” goal was to lose 5 pounds in 5 weeks. As of today, I have lost 1 1/2 pounds and I think if I eat one jelly bean I will gain this pound back. lol! So this means I must continue to skip my after dinner snack and exercise 20 minutes, 3+ times a week to maintain this loss and continue to lose more. If you took the week one challenge and have an update – please leave it in the comment section – this is your accountability !

Now let’s move into week two’s Discipline – Time Management!

One thing I have realized this week as I’ve tried to add in exercise is that it’s hard for me to find time. Basically, it appears that I’m using all my time doing something I want or need to be doing – which means I have to stop doing something in order to add in exercise…which I really don’t feel like doing…so it’s easy to just think “I don’t have time.” I have it – it’s just not how I want to spend it!

Elizabeth Elliot says in her book Discipline-The Glad Surrender: “Time management, a highly developed science today, begins for the Christian with time set aside for God. Other things cannot fall into a peaceful order if this is omitted.”

Here is why time management begins with our time spent with God…how will we know how to spend our time – what we should commit to and what we should say “no” to, if we are not in communion with God?

As God’s children we should be praying “Thy will be done” but often times we are praying “my list be done.”

The mistake here is that we may put onto our own plate more than God would put on our plate – and as a result raise our stress levels to extremely high levels.

Jesus says – “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”~ Matthew 11:28,29

When our stress levels are high – it is nearly impossible to be kind, patient, gentle and in tune with our husband and children. We are too busy to stop to care and there is absolutely no room for error in the day. We need to guard our time so there is room to breathe – room to kiss booboos, read a mind stretching-soul inspiring book, soak in a bubble bath or linger long with your husband in bed. These are gifts that God has given us to enjoy.

What gifts have you turned down from God because you are over-committed or pursuing the wrong things?

“There is always enough time to do the will of God.”~Elizabeth Elliot

I love schedules. God created us as creatures of habit and we see in creation a natural rhythm as the sun sets and rises day after day and the seasons change one after another every.single.year.

There are some things set into our weeks that we can’t escape. We all have to cook, clean and do laundry. So why not create a rhythm in our homes to accomplish the mundane, so we are free to enjoy fun, family and fellowship! Here’s an example of my cleaning schedule:

This schedule guarantees that everything gets done at least once a week…truthfully…some of these things need to be done twice a week. By about day 5 – the house looks like a tornado I know this schedule cannot work for everyone (especially doing laundry just one day a week for large families) BUT it’s a good place to start. And it’s time to be pro-active and think through what DOES work.

If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time. ~ Zig Ziglar

Week 2 – Challenge:
1. Sit down and look at your calendar. Think about your priorities.
2. Pray and ask God to give you wisdom as to what you should be doing with your time.
3. Write out a list of what you need to get done this week – don’t forget to write in time with God! (you can use the free printable below as a guide !)
4. Every morning this week, look over your to-do list. Pray and ask God for wisdom. Add, take away or move things on your list accordingly.
5. Continue this discipline next week and the week after. Soon you will find order and rhythm to your days and weeks.

5 Weeks 5 Disciplines – Time Management

Here’s last week’s printable if you need a fresh one for the new week:
5 Weeks 5 Disciplines – Body
Are you taking the Time Management Challenge – tell us in the comment section?

If you have any time management tips, please share them!!!

If you are a blogger – write about it, post this button in your post or side bar and then link-up below!

Walk with the King,

Filed Under: 5 Weeks 5 Disciplines Mind-Body-Spirit, Goals, Homemaking, Schedules, Self-Discipline, Stress

Does Easter Stress You Out?

April 23, 2011 By Courtney 29 Comments

I’ll keep this short and snappy because I know you have a lot to get done today!!!

Holidays can be really rough on mamas! We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to do it all perfectly. There’s a laundry list of things we have to do to pull off great memories and a meaningful day for our kids and the pressure can warp mommies mood!

Let me forewarn you – Satan HATES Easter and us celebrating Jesus Christ rising from the dead! He would LOVE to ruin your holiday. There are many spiritual battles that we may face tomorrow and we need to be aware and stand firm (Ephesians 6)!

So here’s a few practical things to remember:

1. It’s the tradition of being together year after year that builds security and love within the family. NOT how big the basket is or how perfectly the eggs are dyed.

2. Be on guard against marital strife. Inevitably your husband is not going to help enough or is going to do it his way not yours. Bite your tongue (till it bleeds mamas!)- be gentle with your words toward your husband – avoid having an Easter blow up – that ruins it for everyone. If there’s something that is just way out of line – pull him aside privately or save it until bedtime to discuss (unless of course someone is in danger!).

3. Before you go to bed be sure everyone’s clothes and shoes and bows and accessories are out and ready to go in the morning. Put out the breakfast plates and bowls so breakfast is quick – you’ll be in a hurry to church and might want a picture before you leave (be sure your camera batteries are charged). These extra few minutes can make the difference between being frazzled and pleasant.

4. Get enough sleep tonight – do not stay up late watching television or browsing blogs and facebook. Be disciplined about your bedtime tonight.

5. Wake up before everyone else and get your quiet time in and shower. I know that might mean waking at 5am but trust me – if you are a step ahead of your family the day will go much more smoothly than if you are a step behind.

6. Pray and ask God to give your family peace and joy today. Someone could wake up sick, get chocolate down the front of their pretty dress, the Ham might not turn out right or your mother-in-law might just say something annoying again. Remember – there is a spiritual battle we are in – pray continually that God will help you to respond lovingly and patiently and peacefully all day long!

I am saying a prayer for all who read this post today – that God would bless your Easter! Stand firm mamas!!!

Ps. 34:3 “O magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together.”

Walk with the King!

This is linked to A Holy Experience.