Developing a Personal Mission Statement

It's Monday again and I have been trying to make it a habit to partake in Multitude Mondays at A Holy Experience. Multitude Mondays encourages us, as women and children of the King, to thank God for all the gifts He gives us.

I also like to partake in Project Mondays over At the Well and they are challenging their readers to create a personal mission statement.

So as I was contemplating today's post, I thought about how these two blog link ups are intertwined.

I thank God for the roles He has given me as David's wife and companion, as Eian and Elias' mom, keeper of this household, keeper of this one physical body I have, my roles as daughter, sister, friend, etc.

If I believe God is ALL powerful, ALL knowing, ALL loving, and ALWAYS in control then I must believe that the people in my life are put here for a reason. They are here for a purpose and for an opportunity to let the light of Christ shine through me and into them.

My ultimate goal and purpose for this site is to walk along side all of you reading and encourage you to fill YOUR roles more passionately and intentionally and allow this desire to truly SIMPLIFY your life.

When we focus on what God has designed us to do, and purpose ourselves by aligning our desires appropriately, then that's when we find real fulfillment. This has been my experience anyway.

Believe me though, I am by no means saying I have it all together or that I have even had a day recently where I have really felt completely fulfilled. And we may not really ever feel this until the day the Lord calls us home but I do know that feeling like I've missed the mark on impacting the lives of those I love in a positive way, on a regular basis is NOT what God wants.

I am simply admitting I recognize this truth. So how can this knowledge be implemented? How can I give thanks to God for these roles? How can He be ultimately glorified?

God has been slowly revealing to me (or maybe I've just been slow to catch on) that all these desires to fill my roles more purposefully need to be outlined somehow to keep me on track. I think we all suffer from mild cases of ADHD, or at least I do, and it's so easy for me to get distracted.

I was ecstatic to see that the Project over At the Well was developing a personal mission statement.

I honestly had just asked David last night what he felt were some important tasks needing finished. God bless him but he wasn't much help! He couldn't really think of anything other than working with Eian to finish his diorama for school. I was looking for guidance and direction because I have really been feeling like my wheels are spinning lately.

It dawned on me, as I was washing dishes last night (my daydreaming time) that while I think it's important to include your spouse, the best way to find guidance in prioritizing and finding purpose is asking God. I admit I do not do this nearly as often as I should. So with my arms wrist deep in dish water, I did just that.

Today seems a little more clear thanks to the Lord and I do not think it was just a "coincidence" that today's At the Well project is Developing a Personal Misson Statement.

I will be prayerfully contemplating, organizing, and implementing mine. Won't you join me? What areas of your life are you feeling unproductive in? What are some practical ways you can fulfill your roles more effectively?

Is it making yourself removed from that never ending to do list and purposefully spend a chunk of time with your kids, is it purposefully planning to spend an hour alone with your husband tonight by getting the kiddos to bed early and staying OFF the computer, is it purposefully getting to bed on time so you can rise before the kids and make time for God, is it purposefully planning to make healthier food choices...? So I guess you can see these are a few of mine but I want to hear from YOU!

What can you do in your life NOW to give thanks to God by living more purposefully in the roles He has given YOU?

Menu Plan Monday

It's Menu Plan Monday again already. I have to say that so far (it's only week 2 though) I look forward to Monday's because it's when I get to share my meal plan with all of you! It was time consuming to go grocery shopping Saturday (6 stores in 4 hours, but NO kids!) because I had specific things I needed and they were on sale at certain locations. The good news though is all the stores I went to are only 2-3 miles from one another so it's not like I was wasting money on gas or it would not have been worth it! I think I did pretty good. I spent $132.00 for two weeks worth of groceries!

I went ahead and made a menu plan for two weeks instead of just one for the simple fact of saving time and less trips to the store means less cash coming out of my pocket! It felt good and a weight was lifted. I guess just knowing what you're eating for two weeks and knowing that you're saving money by going to the store with a plan makes a huge difference!

So here is what our dinners look like for the next two weeks:

Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches with Curly Fries

Chili and salad

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Chicken Quesadillas with Spanish Rice

Tater Tot Casserole & Salad

Chicken Pot Pie

Stir Fry

Sloppy Joe's with fries and veggies

Herb baked chicken thighs w/ garlic,parsley & butter noodles with broccoli

Chicken Tortellini Alfredo

Pizza

Hamburger Helper (what can I say, I need an easy one at least one night of the week!)

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Tomato Soup

As you can see I haven't added which days we're eating what, like I did last week. I kind of just pick what will work for us on which nights. For example, I don't pick something like Chicken Pot Pie that takes 45 minutes to bake, when I know we have church, play dates, appointments, etc.

So there you have it! I hope to link to my recipes once I get some added.

Menus Plan Monday

It's my first week back to meal planning and I'm kinda excited. I guess it makes me feel like I have a little control in my crazy life!! No really I'm mainly anxious to get back into it because I won't have to stress about forgetting to leave something out for dinner and wondering what I'm going to make and the added bonus is saving some green! I used to be a meal planner and a weekend cooker which meant on I would make enough meals for the week and freeze some and leave the rest for leftovers through the week. I got away from cooking all day because it was a lot of work! I think though if I plan out simple, low cook time recipes that will take a lot of pressure off. Do you know how stressful it is to come home with two starving kids (and I mean ravenous and I give them snacks to eat on the way home!) and I can never seem to pull in the driveway before 6pm?

So my stressful days are over thanks to the encouragement of the ladies who are involved in Meal Plan Mondays!

So enough talk, here's my menu:

Monday: Pot Roast in crock

Tuesday: Ham, Cheese, Potato, and Broccoli bake

Wednesday: "Crazy Dinner" It's my son's way of saying we're having breakfast for dinner. He loves it!

Thursday: Herb Roasted Chicken thighs, butter & parsley egg noodles, and veggies

Friday: I don't have anything here yet because I have to go to the store really bad! We'll probably have pizza!

I'll try to post pics and recipes after I make them. Have a great start to your week ladies!

Getting Organized: I'm on a role!

Like many of you, I too have been bit by the organization bug! My girl Bethany has been going crazy getting her house organized and she's asking her readers to share. I had planned on posting my before and after photos anyway and now this just gives me another excuse to give her a plug!

It seems I can't turn a corner without seeing a pile of useless things we don't need taking over our home! I wish I could just lock myself in my house for a week and have at it but I just make do with a few hours here and there.

I have several hot spots in my house. You know, the places that seem to be overflowing with junk that you look at everyday but it's too overwhelming to actually do anything about it! I'm only going to share two of them with you tonight and hopefully I'll continue to stay motivated and post more.

Hot Spot #1- My Jewelry

AFTER

It may not look that bad from where you're sitting but trust me, it is NO fun hunting through a jumbled pile of earrings when you're running late to work! The pic to the left is showing my necklaces taking over a picture in my bathroom. I have to be careful when I pull one off that I don't pull them all down, which I've done. So awhile back I purchased a door hanger style jewelry organizer from Avon and finally decided to put it to use. I love this thing. It even has an empty pouch at the bottom for me add more jewelry (hint, hint to my hubby!).

Hot Spot #2: My niece's toy corner

It may also not look bad from where you're sitting. If you look close though, there's a lot of empty and unused space on the shelves which means she has toys strewn over the house! Plus you might see a white basket with a pink liner. That's a basket I let her put toys in until I could get the shelf organized but I really want to use the basket in another part of the house.

BEFORE

AFTER

Just those two little things make a big difference.