How I Spend My Time Each Day

September 2, 2015September 3, 2015 RefreshHer6 Comments

As I was typing the title – “How I spend My Time Each Day” the word spend struck me. Time is like money – it’s given to us to use wisely. It’s our choice to “spend” it on bubble gum or sirloin.

When my girls were in home school, I’d dream about the day when I’d be able to run to Target and the grocery store alone and without the worry of what I needed to help them with, or what school responsibilities were waiting for me when I returned. I loved being with them, but we spent lots of time together and it was fun to have an hour or so by myself. Now that I’m actually in that place in my life, it seems there’s more to do than ever! I find now that more than ever, it’s really important that I organize my week so I can maximize my time and not waste it on trivial things that don’t matter. This is truly an issue I give to the Lord over and over again.

One important step to spending time time wisely is writing out a plan of what I need to accomplish in my daily planner. That usually happens either the night before or first thing in the morning. I also have my menu written out so I know if the meat needs to be thawed, or something put in the crock pot for supper. I can look ahead and see if I need to get a jump start on something that’s coming up later in the week.

So here’s what a typical day looks like (and remember that interruptions that change what we planned are also of the Lord):

Rise between 6:00 – 6:30. Some days the Lord wakes me earlier and I try to get up when He does. I believe that’s His prompting that I need those early morning hours with Him. Just this week as I read Mark 1, I was reminded that the Lord got up long before it was day just to spend time with His Father. I believe it was in those prayer times that the Lord Jesus got His direction for the day (v. 35). How else would He have known which town to go to, or who needed Him the most? I must follow His example, if I’m to know how to spend my time each day!
Wash face, brush teeth, the FEED THE KITTY!
Head to the laundry room to feed Liza. Pick up the laundry load get it in the washer..
Quiet Time. Bible reading, journaling, Bible memory work and prayer time. (This is usually and hour and half or two hours. It’s such a luxury to have this amount of time – I remember the days when I’d be in prayer and I’d have many knocks on my bedroom door. =) That was fine, but it’s a blessing that my only disturbance now is a kitty wanting attention or my husband bringing me coffee!)
Walk around 8:00. – I walk close to 3 miles
Breakfast
Shower, get dressed for the day. While doing that I’m tossing the clothes in the dryer, then folding them after I’m dressed.
Clean bathroom.
General housecleaning – Each day it’s different tasks, but could include – dusting, wiping down appliances, mopping floor, cleaning glass doors, wiping out oven and fridge, grocery shopping,etc.
Lunch
Write blog post before supper
Work ahead on things coming up – Bible club, speaking engagements, Bible studies, etc.
Prepare supper
Ministry/ time with my husband in evening

I’ll Quickly show you what each day of the week may hold:

Monday – Rest. After a busy week, I try to sleep in a little and catch up on time with my husband.

Tuesday – Normal routine. Work ahead on projects, if possible.

Wednesday – I found that Wednesday is a good day to devote to “others.” Since Wednesday night night we’re planning on being at church, I just make that the day I think about others all day! If someone needs a card, a call a visit, or a meal made, I try to do that on Wednesday – my Others Day.

Thursday – Aside from my normal routines, this is the afternoon I have Bible club with the neighbor children, so I need to get things out and ready for our 4:00 time together

Friday – I try to work ahead for my blog on Friday. I like to keep Sunday media-free, so I do Monday’s post either on Friday or Saturday.

Saturday – Prepare for Sunday. This may include preparing for having company for dinner. I set the tables, prepare the food and also make sure I’m ready with clothes ironed for the morning.

Sunday – This is the Lord’s day. The only work I do is the meal. I nap after dinner and look forward to being back in church Sunday night!

Extra tips:

I keep books I’m reading in a couple places in the house, so when I have a few minutes I can read, rather than waste time on my phone or computer.
I keep my memory verse cards at my fingertips so I can take them with me in the car or around the house and review as I’m driving or working on a project at home.
I try to challenge myself to do little 5 minute projects like clean out a drawer, iron linens, or sweep while I’m on the phone, waiting for the coffee to perk, or waiting to head out the door to an appointment.

I confessed a minute ago that I wrestle with wasting time – mostly with with my phone, and it’s something I give to the Lord, but I seldom ever watch television, unless I’m doing something else while watching. I see the benefits of spending my on sirloin, rather than bubble gum!

vs. Related image

What do you choose?

Do you wrestle with spending your time wisely? What changes need to be made in your routine? The Lord will help you!

Lovingly,

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Training Your Preschooler to Sit in Church

September 1, 2015September 1, 2015 RefreshHer12 Comments

You looked so forward to being in church last Sunday, but by the time the service was over you had wrangled with your preschooler in the pew, your blouse was spotted with juice drops, the floor was littered with Goldfish Crackers, and you’re more ready for a deserted island alone without food or water than you are for the Sweet By and By!

Been there? Most of us have! But there is hope for you and your child to be able to sit through an entire service and actually hear the message and get a blessing out of it! Read on!

The picture below is the best place to train your preschool-aged child to learn to sit in church…

This is your living room or family room couch. That’s right, the best place to train your child about church is in your own home. If you wait until Sunday morning to try to teach them to sit down rather than run the aisles and to whisper, rather than shout out their requests, you’re headed for disaster and major frustration. Here are my suggestions for training a preschool-aged child to sit in church:

Clear the area you’re going to sit in and make it free of distractions. TV is off and toys are stashed away.
Get one or two quiet activities like a Bible flannel book or other quiet book, and perhaps one quiet toy like a coloring book and a few crayons (no markers!). These toys will be reserved only for your Quiet Time, so they’re “new” each time they’re brought out. Purchase or make several books/quiet toys to keep only for this teaching time and Sundays. Take a look at this! Find similar ideas on Pinterest!
This is a magnetic fishing pond! Super easy to make and super fun for your child. Also super cheap!
Set the timer for five minutes to start. Gather yourself and your child and tell him he is going to sit on the couch with you until the timer goes off. Give him one book or toy and tell him he may play with it while you sit on the couch, but that he may not get down or talk. It’s time to listen. Show him how to sit, and remind him this is QUIET TIME. Tell him If he talks the toy will get taken away – he must play without talking.
Turn on a Podcast of your pastor, if available. If your pastor’s sermons aren’t online, use another broadcast. Have your Bible out and you sit still and listen.
When/if your child starts talking, try not to answer with words, but put your finger to your lips and shake your head “no.” Don’t answer a question for those five minutes. Give a couple silent warnings the first couple of days, but after two heads shaken, take the toy away as you promised you would do. If the child throws a fit or screams, take him out of the room, go to his bedroom or yours and remind him what you’re asking. If he continues to disobey you may need to apply loving discipline to correct his disobedience. The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. Prov 29:15
When the timer goes off, discuss how they did. “You talked to Mommy, but remember, this is Quiet Time; time to listen to pastor preach. Or, “Yay! You sat so quietly and played! I’m so proud of you and so is God! We got to listen to Pastor preach and that makes God happy!”
The next day and for the whole week, keep up with the five minutes. The next week extend it to ten minutes. Keep at this until you’ve worked up to 30 minutes. A three or four year-old will be able to sit and play without food for thirty minutes. They’ll wiggle, they’ll sigh, but don’t give in and don’t give up! It will be worth it!
If you have more than one child, have a separate bag for each child. Give only one toy at a time, and have each child on either side of you. Be consistent! If they talk, warn once, then remove the toy.
If they throw a fit, discipline in another room, but then bring them back in and complete the five minutes. This will be the same routine once you take them into the service at church. If they disobey, you must discipline, and it shouldn’t be just that you go out and play in the foyer – that’s what they want! Either discipline, then bring them back to the back row where you were wisely seated, or sit out there with your arms around them so they are not able to get down and play.
Make this training time at home something to look forward to – not a miserable drudgery. That can be accomplished by the activity you choose to put into the bag, but again – just a quiet toy – not treats or lots of toys. Make it biblical, if you can, so they’re also “hearing about God.”

Who knows? You might even glean some wonderful Truths during your at home Quiet Times! It won’t be long – just a couple of months until you’re able to sit in church and actually enjoy the service. You know what? Your child will enjoy it a whole lot more, too!

Any questions? Any other suggestions?

Lovingly,

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A Loving and Pleasant Wife

August 27, 2015August 31, 2015 RefreshHer2 Comments

Here’s a “re-post” from 2009, a Little refresher for our marriages:

I love reading through the Proverbs each month. The Lord so wisely scattered so many topics in each chapter. As I read through in the morning there are so many different warnings or exhortations given that I always need something that I’ve just read.

This morning as I read chapter 5 it was easy to feel “off the hook” when most of the chapter is a warning to a man about the strange woman. However, when I got to verses 18 and 19 the Lord brought a sharp reminder to my own heart. It says,

Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe…”

The husband is to enjoy the wife of his youth. We wives can make that a hard task some days because we’re not being what the verse 19 reminds us – loving and pleasant. Every day should find us enjoying being married, not enduring it! It’s ironic, isn’t it, that when a couple is engaged they count down the days until their wedding. Some even know the hours and minutes! They can’t wait! Then not long after – a couple years, perhaps – they’re looking at each other with daggers instead of delight. What happened?

I’m not going to speak for the husband, but for us wives I know what goes on in my own heart. Instead of being loving and pleasant I’m lukewarm and parsimonious (a neat word that means stingy) in the love I give him. It’s easy for us to enjoy our friends and other family members – parents and siblings, but we’re easily irritated with our husbands for some little something.

This passage is directing its encouragement to husbands, but we wives need to do the same thing toward them that they’re asked to do towards us. What is that?

Rejoice in him – Thank God in prayer today for the husband that He brought into your life and that you chose! Think about all the things that brought you together – the reasons you fell in love with him and rejoice!
Rejoice in being married.
Pray for your husband every day.
Choose to be joyful today in the way you speak to your husband and the way you respond to him.
Be fond of your husband and love him dearly. Think of ways you could display that today.
Laugh with him.
Spend time close to him, just loving him the way you did early in your marriage.

Other people can be my husband’s friend, but I am the only one that can be his wife…I want to do it well. I’m sure you feel the same towards your husband; we just get sidetracked sometimes. Let’s work today on being loving and pleasant so our husbands will have good reason to rejoice with the wife of his youth!

Refresh your marriage!

Lovingly,

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A Look Back at the Week (and a special anniversary)

August 19, 2015August 25, 2015 RefreshHer8 Comments

Here’s What I’ve been up to this week:

Who I’ve been hanging with:

My twin sister came for a visit! She came so that she could sit in on our Apples of Gold session on Saturday. She’s desiring to begin this ministry in her church in the near future. We loved having her with us for our 5th lesson. While she was here we also got in lots of shopping! They don’t have quite the variety of stores as we do, so we took her to Asheville to shop all afternoon and evening! We covered LOTS of ground and found some good treasures!

An interesting thing about the picture above is that when my sister posted that photo to Facebook, it automatically tagged me with her name! Of course, being twins, we do look similar, but when she posted the question to her friends as to who was who, every one of our friends got us right. Why? They truly know us.

You know what? The Lord knows every one of us. He knows us by name. He never gets us confused with someone else. The Bible says, He knows those that are His. However, not every person on the earth is God’s child. We’re all His creation, but until a person receives Jesus Christ as their own Savior, He is not their Father. If you were “tagged” in a picture, would it tag you as God’s child? He makes life worth living, and death the full of hope! You can have a relationship with God. See a video here that will explain how.

Whitney met us for lunch in Asheville when my sister was here. We had a yummy lunch at PF Chang’s. It’s always great to have mom/daughter time, even if it’s just a couple of hours! She brought me South Carolina peaches from a stand we’ve stopped at many times over the years. Sooo good!

My favorite picture of the week:

My sweet friend brought me these beauties. What’s happier than a Sunflower? Nothing.

My favorite kitty picture:

Liza joined me for prayer time, touching my foot while I prayed. Sigh…that kitty is so sweet!

My recent home project:

I have wanted to create a gallery wall in our bedroom for some time; I finally got it started. I need to get a few more pictures copied and then it will be complete. Here’s how it looks right now.

What I’m celebrating:

Today marks my 7th year anniversary of blogging! Here are some statistics about my blog:

I’ve posted 1,758 posts in these seven years!
There have been 33,057 views since I began on Word press in February.
I’ve had 8,661 visitors since February.
People in 23 different countries have stopped by!
I’m thankful for each and every one of them…including YOU!

This blog has consumed many hours, but it’s been a great joy to share my heart, and I pray that in so doing I’ve refreshed yours! Thank you for reading; I so appreciate anyone who takes time to stop in!

With love from my country porch,

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The Secret Trick Your Stand Mixer Can Perform

August 14, 2015August 13, 2015 RefreshHer2 Comments

A friend of mine shared her tip for chopping chicken in a flash. Ready?

You put the cooked meat in the mixer, turn it on, and in 30 seconds it’s all shredded.

I wouldn’t use this method if you want the meat chopped, like for chicken salad, but I did this for these Chicken Enchiladas and the consistency was perfect. It would work great for pork that was being used for sliders or sandwiches.

This is a real time saver! Thanks, Angie! What will you make with your shredded meat?

Stay refreshed!