Dropping the Ball...And Then Picking it Up

Do you ever feel like you get a bad case of "Dropping the Ball"? I am feeling that in several areas of my life right now. Each area is something that I value, but it tends to be the thing that gets pushed down on the priority list when the urgency of everyday life creeps in. There are five main areas where I'd like to get back on track:

1- working out. I enjoy running and feel much better when I prioritize the time to do it, but it requires me to get up at 6 instead of 6:45 and lately I've been wanting sleep more.

2- blogging. I value blogging for 3 main reasons: 1- I really enjoy writing and it gives me an outlet to be creative and practice my writing skills. 2- It's a great way to keep in touch with out of town friends and family. 3- When our church grows larger, it will be a great tool that I can use to encourage, inspire, and influence the women in our church.

3- planning learning activities for Caedmon. Caedmon is 2 1/2 now and is ready for a little more intentionality in his learning. I'm an early childhood certified educator and there is no reason I should not be providing a rich environment for his development. I just need to get a little creative and do some planning.

4- scrapbooking. I am not crafty. In fact, I kinda hate doing crafty things. The only time I might think about enjoying them is when I'm with my sister, who is very good at them, and then I just enjoy her company while she does all the work. However, the thing I DO value is having a succinct chronology of our family history. So I'd like to create a scrapbook for each year. Last time I used Picaboo and I just need to carve out some time to get caught back up.

5- reading. Reading, for me, equals growth. Last summer I had a lot more of a relaxed schedule and was able to read two or three books a month. I'm not sure that I've read two or three books since we've moved to California! I know this is has been an extremely busy season for us, but I have an ever growing list of "must reads" waiting for me when I slow down long enough to catch my breath.

One of the key ingredients to change is being discontent with your current situation. It's our primary motivator that pushes us enough to say, "Life CANNOT stay like this. I'm willing to make some hard choices to see change." I think that's where I am right now. I need to evaluate how I'm spending my time and apply a little discipline and wisdom to prioritize some of these goals.

C3-- Creating a good environment at home

Notice Bishop TD Jakes looking over our head!

We got to spend the afternoon/evening with our godsons, Joshua & Nicholas. They came with us to the conference on Friday night.

A few weeks ago Andy and I had the opportunity to go to the Creative Church Conference (C3) hosted by Fellowship Church in Dallas, TX. It was amazing! Since that time I have totally fallen off the wagon with blogging, but I still wanted to share with you some of the insights that I learned at C3. So I am going to do a series of posts, each highlighting one thing I learned while at the conference.

The first thing I went to was a High Tea for pastor's wives. While we were there we talked about the importance of creating an environment that your husband desires to come home to. This can be tricky, especially for people with young children who seem to take it on as their personal mission to destroy any sense of peace and tranquility that you attempt to create! One pastor's wife noted that it's important to talk with your husband about his expectations, needs, and desires. He may value things that I don't realize and may not care about other things that I'm stressing myself out about.

Another good tip was to have your husband give you a call or send a text when he's on his way home. That way you have a few minutes warning to straighten up the house or whatever the need may be. With a two year old, I may have straightened the house 20 times that day, but if Andy walks in at the wrong moment it won't look like I've cleaned in months!

And even with these good ideas, it's important to give yourself grace. Your house will not always be peaceful. A home-cooked meal will not always be on the table at 6 PM. Your kids will not always be cheerful and playful when Daddy gets home. It's real life and grace is required!