This is a long post and mostly for me. Feel free to read it if you want! :)
This is the first week in a long time I feel like we have some normal rhythm in our family. I started thinking about how long it has been since I've had this feeling! Between block leave (and the catchup after being out of town for 3 weeks), half-day schedule, deployment, moving, being "homeless" for 3 months, a broken elbow, unexpected c-section and adjusting to a new baby...goodness! Not that the past 2 years has been a complete mess, but it feels good to be in a regular schedule, knowing that I can get used to Chad being around for a little while! I won't hold onto this "normal" feeling for long though, as we have another move in about 2 months!
A few things that have helped this new rhythm is a few "resolutions" for me. I'm not a big new years resolutions person, but I have had a few areas of my life that I've felt the need to get in order for a while.
First, I am very excited after 33 days, to be on track to read through the Bible this year. It has been years since I did this and I'm so excited to dig into God's Word each day. Since I had kids, I have always let them wake me up in the morning, unless we had somewhere to be early. For years this was 6:30 on the dot, but now it is 7:45 or 8 before the girls get up. I could never focus on quiet time once my kids are up, even though I know lots of people do. What has worked for me in the past month is to read before I get out of bed. Every morning I repeat to myself "Do the most important things first." Translation for me - don't check FB before reading God's word or saying good morning to my children (Chad is long gone by the time we get up most mornings!). Having my Bible on my phone and having my schedule and notes emailed to my phone allows me to read, study and pray in the comfort of my bed. Maybe this sounds silly and overly basic to some, but it has been a refreshing, life renewing moments for me! If you are interested in a daily reading plan, the one I'm doing is 365 Days of Pursuit. My brother's sunday school class is doing it together - hence the daily emails.
Another new schedule for me is my workouts. During my triathlon training, I was at the gym 4-5 days a week and the workouts were pretty long. While I enjoyed it, it took a lot of time out of my week. Now Chad and I are doing workouts developed by our friend and chiropractor, Dr. Fred Roberto. It is called Max T3. They are 12 minute workouts on DVD, focusing on legs, arms, or core each day. Chad and I are in decent shape and we are LOVING these workouts! Not only are they extremely effective, they are short and we can do them from home (or at work for Chad). This saves so much gas money for me driving to the gym all the time and it saves so much time! I do not want to give up my running endurance, so I still try to make it to the gym at least once or twice a week to run. These workout, along with others like crossfit, are such a great example that you don't have to workout or run for hours to be in the best shape of your life. We are also striving to stepping up our eating. I have always tried to eat healthy and have historically been pretty strict with what my kids can eat. We are trying to take that to the next level - eliminating more and more processed foods, eating a lot less refined carbs and sugar. Having a strong diabetes gene in my family makes this even more important to me!
With the pace of the FRG and MOPS slowing down, has given me more time in my day as well. My position in MOPS is very front loaded for the year and of course after deployments, FRGs are a lot slower. We have a couple more events before we change out in April. We have enjoyed this busy season of life, but we are looking forward to slowing the pace at West Point. Feel free to challenge me with this after our move, but it is my goal to not join anything for a while (if at all!) while there. Obviously church is a major priority, but other than that, I hope to pull my efforts inward a little and focus on my family and friends during a season of stability in our Army life.
Another change I've seen in myself over the past month is in my housework. Naturally I fall either to a slob or a perfectionist. I've never been able to achieve balance - its either very clean and organized or completely neglected. My thinking has been, "if I can't do it perfectly (every single toy in the exact right place according to type, size, color, etc...) its not worth doing." I have been striving to find everything a home because I know that is a huge key to staying organized. I have also been inspired by Chad's mom and sisters. I feel like they always have a clean house and it seems effortless. I know this is mainly because they keep up with their work, they don't let it pile up...like I tend to. I don't want my kids' only memories to be of me cleaning and "doing" but I also needed a step up in my productivity at home on a regular basis. Doing a little work often is better I've found than doing a lot of work occasionally.
Another source of inspiration has come from the Duggars. I am reading their latest book right now. Whatever your thoughts may be about them, they seem to have extremely obedient, well rounded kids and their household functions well. Why not learn from them? I am most convicted about the love they have for children. They LOVE being with their kids. So often I feel like the young mom culture is geared around keeping kids occupied and having "me" time. I can't tell you how many people I have heard say they put their kids in this or that so that they can have time to themselves. While I have certainly been guilty of this at time, I do not want that to be my motivation behind anything I do. The Bible is full of examples of selflessness, giving to other and dying to ourselves. I want my life to be poured out on others, especially my family. When the Duggars speak about their children, they never say they are a burden. They never speak about them in a way of "if we could only get through this!" I want my children to see the joy of the Lord in me and I know that me just finding ways to occupy their time while they are in my house will not achieve this. I don't want them to feel like a burden to me or that they bother me when I'm trying to get something done or I'm in a hurry. I don't want to keep a busy pace, just to stay busy. Sometimes reading books from our shelf is better than the library. Sometimes running laps around the living room in a game of tag is better than the park. Don't get me wrong, these are great things that we do often. I'm just tired of the feeling the need to be "busy" outside my house. Our family operates better when we stick closer to home in these early years. There is less stress, more school work accomplished, more fun had together and as a bonus - money saved.
These are lofty aspirations and while I want this for our family, I am so short in it becoming a reality. I pray every day that this would become more of a reality in our home through the Lord's power in my life.
This is the first week in a long time I feel like we have some normal rhythm in our family. I started thinking about how long it has been since I've had this feeling! Between block leave (and the catchup after being out of town for 3 weeks), half-day schedule, deployment, moving, being "homeless" for 3 months, a broken elbow, unexpected c-section and adjusting to a new baby...goodness! Not that the past 2 years has been a complete mess, but it feels good to be in a regular schedule, knowing that I can get used to Chad being around for a little while! I won't hold onto this "normal" feeling for long though, as we have another move in about 2 months!
A few things that have helped this new rhythm is a few "resolutions" for me. I'm not a big new years resolutions person, but I have had a few areas of my life that I've felt the need to get in order for a while.
First, I am very excited after 33 days, to be on track to read through the Bible this year. It has been years since I did this and I'm so excited to dig into God's Word each day. Since I had kids, I have always let them wake me up in the morning, unless we had somewhere to be early. For years this was 6:30 on the dot, but now it is 7:45 or 8 before the girls get up. I could never focus on quiet time once my kids are up, even though I know lots of people do. What has worked for me in the past month is to read before I get out of bed. Every morning I repeat to myself "Do the most important things first." Translation for me - don't check FB before reading God's word or saying good morning to my children (Chad is long gone by the time we get up most mornings!). Having my Bible on my phone and having my schedule and notes emailed to my phone allows me to read, study and pray in the comfort of my bed. Maybe this sounds silly and overly basic to some, but it has been a refreshing, life renewing moments for me! If you are interested in a daily reading plan, the one I'm doing is 365 Days of Pursuit. My brother's sunday school class is doing it together - hence the daily emails.
Another new schedule for me is my workouts. During my triathlon training, I was at the gym 4-5 days a week and the workouts were pretty long. While I enjoyed it, it took a lot of time out of my week. Now Chad and I are doing workouts developed by our friend and chiropractor, Dr. Fred Roberto. It is called Max T3. They are 12 minute workouts on DVD, focusing on legs, arms, or core each day. Chad and I are in decent shape and we are LOVING these workouts! Not only are they extremely effective, they are short and we can do them from home (or at work for Chad). This saves so much gas money for me driving to the gym all the time and it saves so much time! I do not want to give up my running endurance, so I still try to make it to the gym at least once or twice a week to run. These workout, along with others like crossfit, are such a great example that you don't have to workout or run for hours to be in the best shape of your life. We are also striving to stepping up our eating. I have always tried to eat healthy and have historically been pretty strict with what my kids can eat. We are trying to take that to the next level - eliminating more and more processed foods, eating a lot less refined carbs and sugar. Having a strong diabetes gene in my family makes this even more important to me!
With the pace of the FRG and MOPS slowing down, has given me more time in my day as well. My position in MOPS is very front loaded for the year and of course after deployments, FRGs are a lot slower. We have a couple more events before we change out in April. We have enjoyed this busy season of life, but we are looking forward to slowing the pace at West Point. Feel free to challenge me with this after our move, but it is my goal to not join anything for a while (if at all!) while there. Obviously church is a major priority, but other than that, I hope to pull my efforts inward a little and focus on my family and friends during a season of stability in our Army life.
Another change I've seen in myself over the past month is in my housework. Naturally I fall either to a slob or a perfectionist. I've never been able to achieve balance - its either very clean and organized or completely neglected. My thinking has been, "if I can't do it perfectly (every single toy in the exact right place according to type, size, color, etc...) its not worth doing." I have been striving to find everything a home because I know that is a huge key to staying organized. I have also been inspired by Chad's mom and sisters. I feel like they always have a clean house and it seems effortless. I know this is mainly because they keep up with their work, they don't let it pile up...like I tend to. I don't want my kids' only memories to be of me cleaning and "doing" but I also needed a step up in my productivity at home on a regular basis. Doing a little work often is better I've found than doing a lot of work occasionally.
Another source of inspiration has come from the Duggars. I am reading their latest book right now. Whatever your thoughts may be about them, they seem to have extremely obedient, well rounded kids and their household functions well. Why not learn from them? I am most convicted about the love they have for children. They LOVE being with their kids. So often I feel like the young mom culture is geared around keeping kids occupied and having "me" time. I can't tell you how many people I have heard say they put their kids in this or that so that they can have time to themselves. While I have certainly been guilty of this at time, I do not want that to be my motivation behind anything I do. The Bible is full of examples of selflessness, giving to other and dying to ourselves. I want my life to be poured out on others, especially my family. When the Duggars speak about their children, they never say they are a burden. They never speak about them in a way of "if we could only get through this!" I want my children to see the joy of the Lord in me and I know that me just finding ways to occupy their time while they are in my house will not achieve this. I don't want them to feel like a burden to me or that they bother me when I'm trying to get something done or I'm in a hurry. I don't want to keep a busy pace, just to stay busy. Sometimes reading books from our shelf is better than the library. Sometimes running laps around the living room in a game of tag is better than the park. Don't get me wrong, these are great things that we do often. I'm just tired of the feeling the need to be "busy" outside my house. Our family operates better when we stick closer to home in these early years. There is less stress, more school work accomplished, more fun had together and as a bonus - money saved.
These are lofty aspirations and while I want this for our family, I am so short in it becoming a reality. I pray every day that this would become more of a reality in our home through the Lord's power in my life.
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