Examples of Real vs. Perfect

Yesterday I wrote about being ourselves instead of searching for that perfect way. So today I thought I would share a few examples of real vs "perfect".

Dishes in the sink because I chose to watch a movie after dinner with my family
........vs....... your sink should always be empty and sparkling

Blankets strewn across the living room this morning because of watching above said movie
......vs........ always tidy up the house before bedtime, nothing should be out of place

Frozen pizza for lunch because I didn't want to cook after grocery shopping
......vs......... if you feed your family processed foods, you are poisoning them.

Ponytail, no makeup and yoga pants on when my hubby walks in the door
......vs....... you should always freshen your makeup and fix your hair just before your husband arrives home.

Writing my name in the dust on my coffee table
......vs........ today is Tuesday, let's dust the entire house.

Talking to God while washing the dishes
.....vs........we should rise an hour before our family and spend quiet time with God.

Come on in, make yourself at home, oh let me move that blanket out of your way
......vs...... I can't have people over unless my house is spotless.

Taking my neighbor a tater tot casserole when they had a bad day
.....vs...... I must fix a three course meal in order to bless someone.

Pepsi, a bag of chips and some french onion dip while cleaning my house because that is a real thing
.......vs........ I must never put junk in my mouth if I want to be healthy and a good fitness example to others.

Saying I'm sorry when I lose my temper and yell at my children
..........vs........We must be perfect examples of Christ, maintaining self control in all areas at all times.

Popcorn, blankets and movies all day with my family - maybe even ordering pizza so I don't have to cook
.......vs........We must never be lazy, always busy with our hands.

These are just a few examples of my real life. Yep, they've all happened at one time or another. I tried to use some extreme perfects just to make a point, but please know that if you do any of the "perfect" things because that is how you like it, GREAT!! I just don't want us believing we are any less of a wife, mother or person because we don't do them. Remember, it is all about finding what works for us and our own families, not trying to live up to some standard "they" set for us - whoever "they" are.

I want us to live in grace and freedom. I want us to relax and enjoy life, to love others and let go of trying to be perfect. Just. be. you.  If that means having a spotless house, awesome - just don't expect that if you come visit me. ;)

Blessings my friends,
Rashel

To read the post that inspired this post, click here.

Keeping My Priorities Straight Every Day

I just had to pop on here real quick and share my new to do list with you.

I have been looking for what "plan" would work best for keeping my home, but nothing has really stuck with me and worked for me so far.

Our daily schedule is rarely the same every day, so it can be hard to follow a "plan".  My husband's days off change and now two of my boys are working and their days change as well. So, I need a really flexible schedule. 

Also, things come up that need my attention and if it isn't "worked into my schedule" it can end up throwing my whole day off. I've been praying about what is important to me and what really needs to be priority in my home. I should also say that when I follow someone else's plan, I tend to compare myself to that person or compare my home to theirs - and comparison is never good for me.

Another thing is that keeping my home spotless really isn't a priority for me. I become too easily obsessed with keeping a clean home and neglect what is really important. Or worse, I become really irritable with my family when they mess up "my" clean home. That is really bad! I've learned that having my home picked up is good enough for us. I like things in order and don't like a lot of clutter, but we live in our home and if blankets are left out on the couch because we like to snuggle in them- it's okay with me. There are usually books all over the kitchen table because we homeschool. There are always cups on the table or counter because there are 6 of us and we use the same cup all day. My point is that rarely is everything put up all at once and almost always you can write you name in the dust on my end tables - even an hour after I dust! I think that is just part of country living. 

I need relaxed and I need to keep my priorities straight. I can look at my floors and know when they need swept or mopped, I don't really need someone to tell me when to do that. So, I prayed about it and thought about it. Here is what I came up with.

I'm not going to follow a plan. I'm not going to follow a daily schedule, or even a weekly schedule. Each day (or night before) I'm going to make out my to do list of what needs done that day, knowing what else I have going on that day and what I have time for. 

And to keep my priorities straight, that is how my list is typed out.

1. God

2. Husband

3. Children

4. Home

5. Other

For example, under husband I might have iron shirts or do laundry if he's out of socks. Under God would be pray, read or devotion time. For my children it might be fixing their favorite snacks, checking their school or chores. You get the idea. 

I think with it listed out this way it will help me remember what is most important and make sure I get those tasks done first each day. It also allows me to look at my home and see what needs done most, not just what is "scheduled to be done that day."

I know some need more structure than this, that's awesome. God made us all different. We just need to find what works for us and our own families, not try to fit someone else's mold. 

Your priorities may be different than mine, so you could make you own priority to do list. Only you can decide what's most important in your home. I just typed it up using Microsoft word and made it two columns on the page and cut it in half. I have it on a clipboard for sturdiness. If this is something you want to try, do it however works for you. You can just grab a blank piece of paper and pencil and write it out. Whatever you want! 

My hope is that someone else will be encouraged by this and remember to keep their priorities straight each day.

Relearning to Fly

I'm sure many of you are familiar with FlyLady, but if you aren't 

you should really check out her website.

Www.flylady.net

I've used her system in the past and I know that it really does work for me. I'm not sure why I quit doing it and I don't even remember when I quit doing it. I wish I would have kept it up, but oh well. 

I'm restarting.

I spent Saturday reading parts of her website for reminders and then I sat down and wrote out my routines, my daily schedule and what I needed to do each week. It really helps me to have a plan. 

I always think to myself, oh I'll just look around and see what needs done each day and do it. Sounds simple. Sounds like it should work.

Um. Nope. 

It doesn't work for me. 

I get way to sidetracked and do things I WANT to do instead of things I NEED to do.

Not good.

So this is my first official day Flying and so far, it is going great.

I feel like I have gotten more accomplished already today (it's only noon) than I have been in a whole day. 

Of course, it could be that I have a better attitude about things, or that I am feeling optimistic. 

I don't know.

I don't really care either.

As long as things are getting done and my attitude is positive, it's a good thing.

Yeah, I know. It's only the first day. 

My problem is always follow through. 

That is one reason I'm posting about this.

Accountability.

If I tell all of you I'm doing it, then I better be doing it!

We'll see how the rest of the week goes and I'll try to update here or on my facebook page.

So, do you Fly?

Have a blessed day,

Rashel

Would you get fired?

If, as keeper of your home, you had a boss watching over you, would you get fired? Are you doing your job to the best of your abilities? Or are you just doing enough to get by? How many "breaks" do you get during the day, or how long is your "lunch hour"? Do you take care of the tasks that need done in your workplace or do you look at certain tasks as not in your job description?

These are all questions we should ask ourselves as keeper of our homes. We have the most important job there is; taking care of our husband, our children and our homes. Are we really giving it the time and effort it deserves? I was thinking about this the other day and realized I was not treating my responsibility with as much respect as I would a "real job". Let's look at these questions individually.

Stopping to smell the flowers.

Learning to be free

Sometimes I am a slow learner.

Sometimes I am really stubborn.

Sometimes I need to hear it again and again before I really get it.

I need reminders.

Often.

One lesson that I know deep down inside me, but often need reminded of, is that it is okay just to be me.

It is way too easy for me to get caught up in caring what the world thinks of me or even caring what those close to me think of me. Instead, I should be caring what God thinks of me. 

If I am living for Him, then other's opinions really don't matter at all. The people close to me, that I really care about, they will love me more for caring only what God thinks because that will make me the best person I can be.

I will never please the world, there are too many people in it with too many different opinions- they will never all be pleased. No matter what I do. 

Besides that, I am not to be of this world. I am just a stranger here, a passerby on my way to my heavenly home. 

But sometimes I forget. 

Sometimes I start caring what others think of my house if it isn't clean.

Sometimes I care what others think of how I dress, is it modest enough in their eyes.

Sometimes I care what others think of how my children behave.

But then God will nudge me in some way and say, "Hey, I'm the only one that matters."

"My opinion is the only one that truly matters. And you need to remember that I love you just for being you."

I don't have to live up to some set of false expectations. I just have to be me, the way God made me. My priorities are not everyone else's priorities.

If I am pleasing my Lord then that is enough.

Yes, I need to be pleasing my husband as well, but if I am truly pleasing my Lord, then that will happen naturally.

My journey is not your journey and my life is not your life.

Just as yours is not mine.

God made us all unique, with different goals, different ideas and priorities - why would we try to live up to each other's standards when God gave us our own?

I pray you will find freedom in just being who God made you to be. In who God believes you are, a beloved child of the one true King.

Blessings,

Rashel

Lay down your burden and just love

It is far too easy to become burdened by rules and expectations; to become heavy hearted by thinking of all the tasks you must fulfill each day. As moms we are too easily snared in the trap of living up to an imaginary set of standards that we will never achieve.

 Life is not about rules and standards. 

Life is about love.

God's greatest commandments were only to love. To love HIM first and then to love others.

We must let go of trying to be the perfect mom with the perfect house.

Only GOD is perfect.

I love a clean home, but I am to love my children more.

I love checking things off my to do list, but I am to love my husband more.

My time is the most valuable gift I possess, I must consider what I am spending it on and why.

Yes, as moms and wives we have responsibilities but they must not choke out our love. They must not consume us, our thoughts and our time.

Today, I choose to love. 

Today, I choose to invest my gift (my time) in my family.

I will play, I will laugh, I will love. 

And I will not except the guilt Satan tries to lay upon me.

I do not believe at the end of life I would regret spending more time playing and laughing with my children- 

I do believe I would regret not.

Much love my sisters,

Rashel

Becoming a SuperWoman

There are many articles and posts written telling us we can never be a superwoman and we shouldn't even try. We are told it is an unrealistic goal that will only make us feel guilty when we are unable to obtain it. 

Do you believe that? Do you think striving to be a superwoman is unrealistic?

Or do you think that should be our goal?

I think before we answer those questions we should ask one of our own.

Are you too busy making your life "better" that you're forgetting to live?

I was rereading some of my older posts and I was really convicted by this timely reminder. I decided to re-post it today and I pray that you are as encouraged as I was.

I realized some things this week while on a mini spur of the moment vacation. I love it when God takes ordinary opportunities and teaches me a lesson through them.

The Blog Next Door

I was thinking this morning and realized that reading other blogs, can at times, become like keeping up with the Jones for me. It isn't that I covet the look of their blog or their followers. It isn't that kind of keepin' up that I am talking about. I'm talking about the times that I start reading blogs and wonder why I am not doing all the things that author is doing; be it grinding my own grain, preserving 50 qts of tomatoes or sewing my 7th quilt for the year or even writing beautiful blog posts everyday. I start reading blogs and I start comparing my life to hers, I start being discontent with who I am. I start condemning myself and calling myself lazy. I start to beat myself up for all the things that I'm not doing in my life. Why do I do that? Who says I have to do all those things that the "blogger next door" is doing? Who says if I don't do them that I am not a capable, loving keeper at home? I'll tell you who. Satan!!

Bad attitudes - in mom and the children

I will admit that lately we have been struggling with bad attitudes in our home, mine and the children's. I have been praying about it, reading the Word and my children have been writing scripture verses, but it isn't improving as much as I would like. Now don't get me wrong, it isn't that every word out of our mouths is hateful and we aren't at each other's throats constantly but our attitudes are poor and our speech is not always kind. I want us to be looking for ways to do good to others and that our speech would be edifying - so far that isn't happening.

Also, I have really been convicted lately that I am not joyful as the Bible says I am to be. God is working on me in that area because I tend to let my circumstances and other people's attitudes effect my own instead of consistently being joyful, as God says I should be. I am working on it, really I am but it doesn't change overnight. Not for me anyway. I will continue to pray, to read His word and to memorize scriptures that pertain to this area. I will try very hard to think before I react and to remember how God would have me to be.

Do you struggle in these areas? Surely I am not alone in this. How do you handle poor attitudes or speech in your home - either with yourself or your children?  I would love to hear your ideas and suggestions.

Blessings to each of you,
Rashel

I'm in the mood to clean

Yes, I am actually in the mood to clean, serious deep cleaning! Once in a while I really do get a strong urge to clean and today is one of those days.There are many days when cleaning is the last thing I want to do or to be quite honest, there are just too many other things to do. One of these days I hope to get to the point where my home just stays clean, I know people have those, but it is NOT me!

 My house is picked up and we've been maintaining without much problem but because I had not been feeling well for quite some time and then had to have surgery, the "real" cleaning wasn't getting done. So, today I am going to at least get started. My plan is to do one room at a time and go from top to bottom, cleaning everything I can. I won't be pulling stuff out of cabinets though, that would take forever and my house would still be in need of a good cleaning. No, I just plan to clean today, no decluttering - oh FlyLady would have a fit wouldn't she!

I have a question for you though, my sweet readers - when you really deep clean, how do you do it? Do you do one room at a time, do you do one chore in every room, then another chore in every room (like cobwebs, then ceiling fans, etc) or do you have another way altogether? I would love to hear what you do.

Since I will be working on my home today, I thought I would share just a few random pictures of my home.

This is my kitchen (um, duh). Have I mentioned we have a very small home, which means everything is close, very close!

This is a view looking from the kitchen into our living room. I didn't have a very good picture of the living room, so this is what you get for now :)

This looking into the bathroom/utility room. It is a pretty large bathroom which works well when it holds the washer and dryer, not to mention it is the only one and six people live in this house!

This is a view of our porch, however it is an old picture and things have changed a bit. But hey, it is clean and it gives you an idea of what it looks like!

Don't forget to let me know how you deep clean,

blessings,

Rashel

My attitude decides how much I clean

I've come to realize that normally I let my attitude (feelings) determines how much I clean. This is so wrong. I shouldn't have to be in the "right mood" to clean. I should do it because I want to take care of my home and my family. I am hoping that since I have realized this, I can change. I can get so much done when I set my mind to it, therefore, I should set my mind to it everyday! If I were to put as much effort into it everyday as I did today, my home would stay clean and I would be a happy woman. I truly love a clean home! Today I had two extra little ones this morning and still managed to clean in my kitchen some. They left and then this afternoon I had another extra little baby and I managed to clean my dresser and rearrange a few things in my room that dh had asked me to do. It was all because I was had the mindset to do it. I snapped a before and after picture of my dresser for you.

Is it bad that my children came in while I was cleaning off the dresser and said, "Wow! Is that your dresser?"

It feels so nice to have it done and have a nice clean surface that I can actually keep dusted now.

Blessings,
Rashel

Why I haven't been posting

I know it has been months since I have posted but honestly, I just haven't felt like it. We have had a very busy summer and that could be one reason, but it isn't the main reason. To be quite honest, I really just needed a break from blogging. I have trouble sometimes letting my blog become too important to me. I start worrying about how many people are reading it, how many pageviews I have and so forth. I don't want my blog to be about that. I just want to have a place to share what is going on in my world and hopefully encourage others at the same time. I believe this break from blogging has helped me to get my priorities straight and hopefully I will get back to blogging soon. However, I most likely won't blog every day but rather when I have time or when I have something worth sharing. I have posted before about living offline, actually living my life instead of being online all of the time and that is what I am doing. I encourage you to do the same. Make sure you aren't spending too much time reading about other people's lives instead of living your own. I struggled with that at times, not everyday or even every week, but at times. I have since unsubscribed from several email newsletters and RSS feeds. I don't have time to read them all and don't want to take the time to delete them every time they come, so I just unsubscribed. It was very freeing.

So, all that to say that yes, I am still around. :) I do plan to blog more frequently than I have these past few months, but don't look for it to be daily by any means. I have too much living to do for that. I have babies to love and a home to run, as do most of you I am sure. Blessings to each of you for stopping by, but please don't stay too long, you have a family waiting on you.

Blessings,
Rashel

Living Offline

I'm not talking about living off-grid, I am talking about living off of your computer. I am talking about real life living, talking to real life people and enjoying your real life family. I haven't been online much lately, because we have just been busy living our everyday life.

Thursday our daddy was off work and we decided to go to Silver Dollar City (we have season passes) before all the local schools got out for the summer and it got really busy. So we were gone all day that day and I didn't have time to get online, but I had an absolute wonderful day with my real life family!

Friday we spent picking up tables from my Dad's for a garage sale on Saturday, then we went to a nearby town to pick up our raw milk and the rest of the day was spent at my sister's getting ready for our garage sale. Friday evening we had fellowship, our weekly bible study group with several other families from our church. So once again, no time to get online, instead I spent time with real life people and lived my real life.

Saturday was, you guessed it, our garage sale day which took up the entire day. I was completely worn out by the time we got home, so my wonderful oldest son offered to take us all out to eat in honor of Mother's Day! We had a wonderful dinner, but alas, no time this day to get online either. However, I was not at all upset by this, I was again enjoying my real life family.

Sunday was Mother's Day, spent at church until just after noon. We had invited some families over for the evening to roast some hot dogs and make some homemade ice cream, but our home needed some attention after being so busy the last few days. We spent the afternoon just picking up and preparing for our friends and then had a wonderful evening of fellowship. Obviously, I didn't take time to get online this day either, but I usually don't get online on Sundays. I feel I should have a day of rest without the computer.

Monday we spent helping my father and stepmom. You see my stepmom contracted meningitis from a tick and was in the hospital since Thursday. Dad had been trying to take care of the farm and drive about 45 minutes (each way) to the hospital everyday to be with her. So we went to his place to mow, weedeat, weed their garden and clean their house for them. We also found out while there she would be coming home the next day, so it was perfect timing. After taking care of them, we came home to get a few chores of our own done. I did, however, find some time to get online and check my emails and such, but only after taking care of my real life family.

Do you want to know what really got me thinking about writing this post? When I checked my email Monday, I had an email from Saturday morning saying I had won a giveaway I had entered several days before. I was so excited and emailed the person with my info, only to receive an email back saying that because I had not responded sooner, she gave the prize to someone else. To be quite honest, I was extremely disappointed at first, but then I realized something. I had chosen the more important thing the last several days and I could not be upset about that. I had chosen to actually live and spend time in my real world instead of living online. I had chosen my real friends and family instead of my online friends, and that was more important. I don't tell you this for sympathy or for any reason other than to encourage you to choose the greater thing and not worry about what the online world thinks.

I encourage you to spend time in your real world, with the real people that are around you and let your online friends just wait until you have some free time. Do you know what, I will still be here when you get back. Unless of course I am gone spending time with my real family too! If that is the case, we will just read each other's post and comments when we can and know that we will respond when we have time. That is okay, that is the way it should be. We should never be concerned with having to check our email each day or post on our blog each day, lest someone get upset that we are slacking. It isn't slacking, it's called LIVING.

So, I encourage each of you to live offline. I'll be here when you get back.

PS- If your computer is just too easy to access several times during the day to do a "quick check", then by all means turn the beast off. You will be less likely to just "jump on for a minute" if you have to turn it on every time.

Blessings,
Rashel

Me Just Being Me

This idea keeps coming to my mind, I just need to be me. It's like God is reminding me over and over, just be yourself. He whispers in my ear, "I made you the way you are, why are you fighting it?"  He is encouraging me that I don't have to keep up with all the other women in this world and they don't have to keep up with me. You don't have to keep up with them or me. You are free to be yourself.

Women can find such encouragement from the Duggars, the Phillips and many other well known Christian families, but your family may never look like their families. So, why do you allow yourself to believe you are not living up to the standards those families "seem" to set? I believe that if you were able to sit down with Michelle Duggar and have a heart to heart with her, she wouldn't want you to compare yourself to her, or compare your family to hers. She wouldn't expect you to have as many children as she does or speak in the soft, sweet voice in which she speaks. You aren't her. God made each one of us different. Romans 12 reminds us we each have different gifts and we are to use those gifts the best we can, not long for other gifts or qualities. We are to rejoice in how God has created us, knowing that God does not make mistakes.

This side of Heaven, none of us are perfect. There are areas you struggle with and you realize you need to work on those, but that does not mean you are a failure. It does not mean that because you have a different way of doing things than other women that your way is wrong. Your style is your own, it was given to you by God. Rejoice in your individuality, in every detail about yourself that God specifically created just for you. Pause for a moment, close your eyes and thank Him for making you just the way you are....................

Now, remember those weak areas you have, those are the things you can improve upon. You can learn from other women that are strong in those areas. You can get ideas, glean from their knowledge and learn from their mistakes. But remember, you are not those women! You do not have to do every single thing they do or do it the way they do it. Just take bits and pieces, little nuggets that will help you to improve in those areas that you are weak in. See what works for you and throw out the rest. Most of all, ask God to give you wisdom in those areas before you start seeking wisdom from other women. Rely on His nudgings in those areas and then seek the encouragement of other Godly women.

Blessings my friends,
Rashel

Clutter to cleaning to reorganizing

I don't know what it is about me, but when I really get the urge to do some cleaning, I end up rearranging things. It happened when I cleaned the kitchen yesterday. My poor children are always asking where I moved such and such; it's their chore to put away clean dishes. I just can't help it. I am always looking for ways to make things less cluttered or more efficient and that means reorganizing some things.

I rearrange my living room furniture between 2-4 times a year. I get really bored with it being the same all of the time. I think I got some of that from my mother, I remember her rearranging the furniture as well.

I also realized while cleaning yesterday the reason I don't deep clean very often. I have too much clutter to put away that I never get to the real cleaning. Most of my time is spent picking up things my children leave out or just  picking up stuff in general. I really need to focus each day on doing the little things that will keep my home picked up. Then when I get the mood to clean, I can actually clean instead of just putting things away.

I did get some cleaning done yesterday in the kitchen and the living room. I mainly got cobwebs, ceiling fans, dust and swept the floors. We had unexpected company for a couple hours or so which cut down my cleaning time, but I am not complaining, it was some friends we love that we hadn't seen in several weeks.

My goal now is to stick to my home management binder and follow the schedules I have in there. If I do that, the little things and the deep cleaning will all get done eventually and consistently. If you want to read more about my HMB, you can read here. 

Feel free to share your homekeeping experiences with me. I love to read them!

Blessings,
Rashel

How do you deep clean?

You know those times when your home is really in need of a good deep cleaning, how do you do it? Do you spend a set time in each room, say 45 minutes, and then move to the next room? Or do you tackle one room until you've gone through the whole mess, dust bunnies to ceiling fan, and then move to the next room?

(Image from ask.com)

Yesterday I made some kitchen confessions, you can read it here if you missed it. Well, today I have another sort of confession, my home is in desperate need of deep cleaning. I cannot even tell you the last time I dusted cobwebs or wiped down the ceiling fans. Honestly, I can't tell you the last time I dusted anything. Now, I also have to admit that each of my children has a specific room that is their chore room and they are responsible for cleaning it each day, including the dusting each week. So, I'm sure it has been dusted recently, but not to my standards I'm sure. It seems my children's standards are not quite as high as mine when it comes to cleaning, imagine that.


Well, I think an alien has come and invaded my body, because today I have the desire to really deep clean my home. Yes, really, I am desiring to CLEAN! Strange I know. Actually, every few months I do get this yearning to really clean my home. I most definitely do not have it every day, notice I said every few months!

(image from ask.com)

Now my dilemma, do I set a timer and clean one room at a time for the allotted time or do I just start in one room and work in there until it is finished before moving to the next room? I have done both ways and I can't really say one works better than the other. I think if I am limited on time, then the timer method works so that I make sure to hit each room. However, I know that with that method there will be things left undone in each room because I will run out of time. Oh the agony of decisions, just kidding.

So, how do you like to deep clean? Or are you organized enough that you don't have to set apart time for deep cleaning, it just gets done along with your normal routines? Mine is scheduled that way, but the funny thing is, it doesn't work if you don't follow the schedule!

Blessings to you in whatever you do today,
Rashel

Letting go of guilt

I realized today that at times I find myself trying to be the perfect homemaker, even though I know there is no such thing. I seem to have cycles of this kind of thinking, which you have probably noticed if you have followed my blog for any length of time. I have a feeling though that I am not alone in this.

 I think it is common for us wives and moms to get so caught up in trying to do what is best for our family that sometimes we forget that our best doesn't have to be perfect. We don't all have to cook the same way, eat the same foods or create the same projects. God has given us to our families because we are the perfect one for them. If God wanted Suzy homemaker to be your husband's wife, He would have made it that way. But He didn't, He chose you and He loves you just as you are. While it is good for us to learn new skills and try new methods of cooking, it is also okay to just relax and be ourselves.

I have a confession to make, want to hear it? I don't soak my grains. There I said it and it feels good to let it out. I will admit I have tried it, but honestly, we just don't like the way things taste after being soaked. What good does it do to soak my grains for waffles or muffins if my family won't eat them anyway? That is actually being a bad steward with what God has given me because it will just be wasted.

Do you know what else? If you were to come to my home today, you would find a pile of laundry waiting to be put away, floors that need swept and mopped (really, really bad), clutter in my bedroom and my kids' room and I am sure there are dirty dishes in my sink. I am very blessed with a husband that does not expect our home to be spotless and knows that sometimes, it will be a mess. As long as I am not neglecting my husband, my children or my duties as homeschooling mom and keeper of my home, it is okay. We live in our home and while I thoroughly enjoy a clean, organized home, it does not stay that way long.

Is there something you are feeling guilty about? Have you set your standards too high and are trying to do too much? Seek God's will for you and rest in His peace.

I am not giving you permission to be lazy. I am just encouraging you (myself included) to be realistic about your life. I don't have to live up to anyone's standards but God's and that is a very freeing feeling.

Remember, it's okay that we can't do it all. No one can.

Blessings my friends,
Rashel

Guilt is a horrible thing

Do you ever have a day that you have extra time you weren't expecting to have and you seriously don't know what to do with it? I'm having one of those days today. We got up and around this morning and got the house picked up, swept and dishes done. My two oldest sons are at my Dad's helping cut/stack wood and dh is at work, so it is just me and my two littles. I was supposed to scrapbook with a friend today, but she backed out. So, now I have a few hours before I have to be anywhere and can't decide what I should do. I have plenty I could clean, declutter or organize. I have laundry I could fold and put away or I have two books borrowed from a friend that I could read. I could just scrapbook by myself. My two littles are watching a movie, I already sat and watched one with them, then I made some pudding and now I am online (obviously). Now, the dilemma of what to do next. Do you know what I really WANT to do? Take a nap. Yep, I would love to just curl up and take a little nap, but the guilt is starting to creep in and remind me of all the productive things I could be doing. Oh, how I hate that little voice that makes me feel guilty when I want to have just a little time to indulge myself. I'm not sure which I'll do, but I'll be sure to come back and let you know.  What would you do?

What do you do to stay organized?

I've really been thinking lately that I seriously need to get more organized in alot of areas. I am not really talking about house cleaning organization, I have a plan for that and it works well - when I follow it. I am more thinking about a plan to keep up with paper clutter, plan better for birthday and holiday gifts that will save me from last minute shopping and things like that. I know if I plan better, I can give more presents and make them more meaningful without spending more money; I just need to plan ahead and follow through. I also want to be more organized about planning my garden, starting it earlier than normal and keeping up with it. I want to be more organized in many areas so that I will have more time to spend on the things I want to do. I know organization is such a time saver and a money saver. I really feel as if I'm rambling, so I'll stop now.

What do you do to help stay organized, in any area of your life?  What things do you like to plan ahead for and how do you do it?


** On a side note, I'm so sorry to all my blogger friends. I have been so bad about getting online lately. I haven't been posting on my blog or visiting with my friends. I should be able to get online more now. I've missed visiting with you.

Blessings,
Rashel