Stay Sane To Do List

Having 3 kids in 3 years is A LOT! But I love it! Like for real love it! Every day has its challenges and moments that seem to overwhelm me, but I have learned to laugh instead of cry, to define my new normal and know it's going to be okay! We have a motto in our home that we allow grace to rule. It seems to help in the chaos of our mini circus!

So, I compiled my keep sane to do list. I try to do these things every day to help myself stay sane and on top of things! I have found this helps me to not feel like I am being held under water.

Now you must know, these things don't happen every day- it's more like my goal to do list and when I do accomplish them, I'm doing good- like real good! I tell you that so you don't take this list and set it as a standard, my hope would be you take the list maybe for some ideas, encouragement or just to give you some "oh she does it too so it's okay" type of feelings. Or maybe, "This is her goal to do list? Man, I'm doing great then!" haha! I don't mind how you look at this list as long as you don't use it as a tool (or allow the enemy) to beat yourself up! Deal?!

Okay so here is my keep sane Daily To Do List:

1. Get ready! I take 5 or so minutes every morning to get dressed, brush my teeth, maybe put on a little makeup (lotion, BB cream, and mascara). Sometimes getting dressed means changing into a fresh pair of workout pants, even though I have no intention of working out that day! I found it helps me feel better throughout the day and seemed to help me be more productive! Just so you know- usually my kids are playing in my bathroom/closet or watching tv while I do this! So it's not like this nice peaceful moment of my morning!  

2. I read the Bible. Now by reading the Bible, it could be the verse of the day on my Bible app, or it could be pulling out my Bible and reading a few verses just depends on my day. To me, it's not about how much I can read as much as it is about filling myself up. If I'm in a season, I sometimes will search a word and read verses on something specific. For instance- grace and patience seem to be great needs for me these days so I might look up scriptures on my phone and read those! If you think you don't have time for this, I would like to challenge you to open your Bible app instead of a social media app and I think you would be surprised by how much you can read... When I was pregnant with Kate, I read the entire Bible in less than 3 months because instead of opening up a social media app I opened the word of God. I was shocked and it helped me realize, I always have enough time to read His word. I can't live without it!

3. I do a load of laundry. Once again these things don't happen every day like I would like for them to. For instance last week we had a lazy day and laundry didn't get done and I was totally okay with that. Then there are days where I am laying in bed and realize I started laundry that morning and haven't touched it since! Time to re-wash that load! Maybe tomorrow will be better. #goals

4. I load & start the dishwasher. Every night I try to start my dishwasher so I can start fresh the next day. With that, I try and do all the things that need to be hand washed as well, so the next morning my sink is empty and all dishes are clean!

5. Straighten the Living Room. We have an open living room/ kitchen layout and it's the first thing you see when you walk into our house. So every night I try and just straighten the living room so once again the next morning I wake up to a fresh start. In our home- we try and keep most of the toys upstairs in our playroom so usually, it only takes me a couple of minutes to straighten! For some odd reason, children love to play in clean spaces and leave them messy! I have learned that when we take the time to straighten our home- mainly the kitchen and living room we have a better day the next day!

Now I do need to place a few disclaimers. Like I said this does not happen every day. But I also have help! My awesome husband will help me at night (the nights he doesn't work late) straighten our house.  We have a nanny a couple hours a week who is fabulous about helping me around the house when I get behind and help me to maintain it if I'm staying on top of it all. But in the last 8 weeks, I think I can count on 1 hand how many times she has come over and my house has been clean! So there's that!

So there you have it! My daily stay sane to do list! What are some things you try and do every day to help you stay on top of things and stay sane? Would love to hear them!

Robbed.

It was late Friday night, Ethan was at the Gateway Young Adults Retreat and I was laying in bed thinking of how jealous I was. Jealous of Ethan for being able to go on a retreat. Jealous that he got to sleep 2 glorious nights in a room all by himself with no worries about children. (All mothers understand why I was jealous about this) Jealous of all the adult conversation, worship and God moments he would get to have on this retreat. Jealous of my girlfriends- some who were on the retreat as well, some who were able to do a girls night out and some because my perception of their life via social media was well perfect (I have since learned/ been reminded that they too have messy NORMAL lives) So as I laid in my bed, thinking of all I was missing out on and allowing my jealousy to take over my mind. I didn't even realize I was being robbed. To be honest, it wasn't until Saturday afternoon on my way to church (which was a miracle that I made it to church with all 3 kids all by myself!) that I realized I had been robbed. I was devastated! Would I ever get back what was stolen? And so sweetly the Lord whispered in my heart, "Yes honey you will!"  

The truth is nothing of material worth was stolen. No, it wasn't anything physical. The truth is jealousy robbed me. Jealousy robbed me of seeing the blessings right in front of me.

Since I was a little girl my greatest desire has been to be a mommy! And here I was living my dream with my answered prayers all around me. Yet I was seeing those answered prayers as burdens, as inconveniences. When I realized what had happened on Saturday, I was devastated because the things I had prayed for and desired for so long- a loving, hard working husband, a beautiful home, lots of children all close in age were right there and I had lost sight of them as my answered prayers, my blessings! 

I have talked about being intentional and I believe that we should be intentional. Intentional with our time, our money... but also with our minds and our emotions! In today's culture, with all our social media outlets, I feel it is easy for us to allow jealousy into our hearts. But do we realize that jealousy is not a friend? Jealousy doesn't come into our home to help us clean or cook. It doesn't bring flowers and cookies and come just to talk and give you a breath of fresh air. No, Jealousy comes in with every intention to steal all your valuables- and I don't mean your material valuable items, I mean your answered prayers, your greatest desires, your blessings.

So friends, have you been robbed? Have you allowed jealousy to come into your heart and turn your blessings into burdens?

Just like the Lord so gently reminded me on Saturday, we can get back what has been robbed from us. But in order to do that, we have to kick jealousy out of our hearts and our minds and invite gratitude back in. You see gratitude can not stay in the same place as jealousy. And just to let you know, God won't grant us the other desires of our hearts when we are busy lusting over others answered prayers. 

In some ways, jealousy is lusting... I know we might not always think of it in that light. But when we are jealous, we are lusting over what someone else has and we want.

Nature is content with little, grace with less, but lust with nothing.

If jealousy is in your heart, you will never be content. And God works when we are content.

So, take a moment today and examine your heart... Has jealousy taken residency in your heart turning your answered prayers, your blessings into burdens? Take a moment and kick it out and then invite gratitude back in. Begin to thank God for how He has provided for you and has answered your prayers! Look around at all your blessings and thank God.

Let's not allow our worlds to be robbed by jealousy. Let's enjoy our blessings, our answered prayers. And let's remember to have a heart of gratitude and thank God for all He has given us. And let's thank Him often. It will help keep jealousy away.