Taking the Time

Can we truly find the time to do it all? What exactly does "all" include?  What are my priorities?

My word for the year is Intention.  I posted about it here. What will this mean for me?

1. I need to start my day right.  My day should begin with a devotional time.  First, I need to feed my soul, set my mind and heart on Christ, and then move forward with the rest of the day.  This is key for establishing a right heart attitude that I can carry through the rest of my day.  If my eyes and heart are set on Christ, I can handle whatever may come my way that day.
2. Set a plan for the day.  I want to start each day with a guideline of what I would like to accomplish.  I just need to remind myself that it is only a guideline, not set in stone, and allow for changes if needed throughout the day.  I don't want to pass out on an opportunity to grow or nurture someone who may need me because of a schedule.  I want to find time to create, to garden, to drink in the small moments that are meaningful and so often passed over.
3. No matter what my plans I have to accept that they will not always go the way I want them to.  There are times when I have everything played out in my head ahead of time.  I know exactly how things should go, down to the last detail.  But there always tends to be a curveball in there somewhere and my best laid out plans will go awry. I want to accept this and make the most of whatever opportunity I am faced with. Not letting wrong emotions take over.  This is certainly a struggle for me.
4. Not compare myself to others.  I often feel like a failure because I can't do something like so and so blogger, and I don't have a perfect home like so and so.  I can actually sit at my computer at times and sink deeper and deeper into despair because of my inadequacies.  I need to be true to who I am in Christ.  Finding myself in him and not by comparing myself with others constantly.  I can never be anyone else, I cannot walk in their shoes, or understand their struggles, and no matter how beautiful things may look on their blogs, they are real people, with real everyday struggles and challenges.  I can no longer believe the lie that anyone does it all.  None of us can and if we try we will surely end up miserable and making those around us unhappy.

Edie is hosting a link party: Life. On Purpose.  Don't miss it.  So many wonderful bloggers sharing their ideas.

I realize that I won't be able to:

• Have a perfect house, everyday, but I want to be thankful for the home God has blessed us with.
• I won't cook every meal from scratch but I will try to prepare healthier meals for my family.
• I can't sew all our window treatments.  I bought the fabric longer ago than I care to remember.  I've washed it with plans to get started and it's been sitting in the laundry basket ever since.
• Thrift shop and refinish all of our furniture.  I have a secretary I purchased almost two years ago waiting to be refinished.
• Use every book I've ever seen and loved for homeschooling.  After all there are only 2 1/2 years left homeschooling our son and he's off to college.  He is interested in art, mainly comic book/graphic novel art.  I need to focus on what he needs for acceptance into a great art school and not what I want at this time.  By the way, any tips on this?  It is so out of my league.
• Bake my own bread from scratch.  Of course in my eyes, this would mean grinding my own wheat, which means I would have to purchase a grain mill and a new mixer because mine just isn't powerful enough.  And it goes the way of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie."  I do bake my own bread occasionally, with store bought flour, and sometimes it's even white flour.  GASP! But I'm keeping it real.
• Create amazing art everyday,in one form or another.  I want to incorporate this more into my days.  My craft studio is busting at the seams with all the supplies.  Now to be intentional in setting aside the time to put this into action.
• Read Classical books.  I love reading, the printed word, stories from other times, becoming involved in the lives of the characters as you journey with them through joys and sorrows.  But I won't enjoy all the classics.  Some will challenge me and cause me to put them down and never want to return to them.  

Time will always be a challenge.  We never seem to have enough.  I want to take each day as a gift from God, embrace all He has for me.  Know that I will fail.  There will be things left undone and even dreams I may not achieve but He is gracious and will redeem our messes, heal our broken hearts, and place new dreams within us.  And in Him all things are possible.

Menu Planning & Time Management

January is the month for hunkering down and getting things in order.  It's the start of a new year and with it  hopes and dreams.  A clean slate, a time to focus on our dreams and hopes for this upcoming year.

This is the month for organizing, planning, and laying out our plans.

Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. Proverbs 16:3

This year I want to focus on time management and one of the biggest time thieves is not having a plan.  I can plan almost anything but my nemesis has always been meal planning.  This year I want to be more intentional about meal planning.

Edie, who is a rock star and a mentor to so many of us in blog land, has given us one of the best meal planning tools ever.  The best part is that it is so easy once you get started.  This has been available to us all along.  Google calendars will be your favorite tool in implementing a meal plan.  Edie has posted a tutorial on her blog.

You'll find that you love it once you get started.  My favorite piece is the fact that you can add the recipe to the calendar. Everything in one place makes it easier when supper time comes around.

Second favorite~you can repeat the meals.  Once you input your meal you can edit and choose how frequently you would like the recipe to repeat.

I have started on my menu and it is far from being complete but it is a start.  I have never had a menu plan that I stayed with.  I would start it but, usually within a month, I would stop.  The beauty of this is that once you have your favorite recipes in and you choose how often to repeat them, soon enough you will have a year's worth of meal plans.

While I was working on my menu plan I decided to go through my many recipe pins and bookmarks.  I spaced these new recipes through out the month.  Once I've tried them if they are keeper I will go back and edit it to repeat.  I will adjust the frequency according to how much we liked it.

Having a plan in place is such a help.  No more wondering what's for dinner at the last minute.  Rushing to thaw something and being disappointed in yourself.

Thank you sweet Edie for sharing this nugget of wisdom with those of us who have failed miserably with menu planning.