It's Not A "Plan", It's A Habit.

I finished another Chronological Reading Plan this morning. Allegedly you can read through the entire Bible in a year, BUT I HAVE NEVER MADE THAT WINDOW. 

It usually takes me 14-16 months (Okay. One time 18!) to get through cover to cover, but that's because LIFE HAPPENS. You have a baby or your kids get sick or you get sick and you won't always have 30 minutes to sit down and study every morning. (Or night- if you're a night owl, bless your heart.) 

Once I got passed that mental block of "I have to check off this tiny box of specific chapters everyday to stay on schedule" I began seeing it as an opportunity to grow a habit instead of meeting a goal. 

My hope is that by posting this I can encourage just one person to get rid of the "schedule pressure" and simply use a printout as a tool to help build within them the habit of daily Bible study. 

If you're hesitant about the insurmountable idea of reading through the Bible (YOU CAN DO IT!), or finding time to read your Bible every day (I PROMISE IT DOESN'T TAKE LONG!)- let me know and I would love to be able to encourage you! (I was a cheerleader in the 8th grade, by the way so that basically qualifies me as a professional, you know.) 

Thanks for stopping by! ~ Katie

A List for This Mother's Day

Mercy sakes alive. It's Friday afternoon and we've survived another week so GO US. 

It's been a good week, but a long one all the same because HOW MANY MORE WEEKS OF SCHOOL DO WE HAVE?? In an effort to preserve a smidgelet of what my life is like in this current season we're in, I'm compiling (an incomplete!) list of things I've had to ground the kids from or take away from them recently. It is below. 

carrots
board games
toothpaste
church pew pencils
garden spades
blankets
popcorn
puzzles 
EACH OTHER
bacon
leather furniture
water hoses
outfit changes 
construction paper
jelly
teeth flosser picks
dirt
clementines
drinking straws
balloons
forts of any kind
piggy banks 
night lights 
crayons
tape
Rhino, our hamster
salt and pepper shakers
light switch priveledges
talking
singing
humming
umbrellas
hair elastics
crayon peeling priveledges 
books
socks
song books 

That should cover through about Thursday of this week. Parenting is fun, and kids are an amazing blessing, but it is mind numbing and a refining fire at the same time. So to all the Moms out there who can compile a list similar to mine- Happy Mother's Day, friend! You're doing a fantastic job and your kids are amazing and YOU are amazing. 

I'm so proud of you!! Lots of hugs and lots of coffee, ~Katie 

An a-MAY-zingly Fresh Start

Can you feel it? 

The blank slate of another new week AND another new month is upon us. Bless it. 

I love Monday's because I feel like it's a fresh and unspoiled package of days that are waiting for me. Because I'm a huge nerd, I love to flip the pages of my planner over early on Monday mornings and survey the week's activities. We have baseball games and Story Time and co-op and play dates and errands and Bible Classes. My meals are jotted down and I've got a (lofty) cleaning list laid out. Like I said, I KNOW I AM A NERD. 

Our weeks fill up surprisingly quickly and by Thursday's I'm usually feeling run down and depleted. I've gotten behind in more than one way and I've lost my temper and probably the mates to at least three pairs of shoes. (HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN SO EASILY?? They're shoes!) However, on Monday's- everything is fresh. I really enjoy that early morning, quiet house, third cup of coffee kinda feeling I get around 6:30 when I can look over my planner, make lists of things and pray over things. And that's exactly what I just did. 

I'm nearing the end of my chronological Bible study and I'm knee deep in a bunch of Paul's  letters. (Romans always gives me brain cramps. It is so much good stuff BUT IT IS SO MUCH GOOD STUFF. Bless it, y'all.) I'm currently in Colossians and a few of his admonitions stood out to me this morning as I read them with my "fresh week, fresh month" attitude. 

"Whatever you do, do your work heartily (from the soul), as for the Lord rather than for men; knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. IT IS THE LORD CHRIST THAT YOU SERVE." -Paul, Colossians 2:23-24, emphasis mine

That encouraged me with ALL the encouragement, y'all. All my little lists and notes and activities I'm planning- I'm doing it all FOR HIM. I'm going to iron my husband's work clothes and purge closets and wash shower curtains this week. FOR HIM. I'm going to teach Phonics and handwriting and addition with regrouping. FOR HIM. I'm going to take us to the library and grocery store and church and maybe even the beach and the whole time, every day, every hour- I'm going to be serving Him. 

So when I want to lose my temper and freak out over the dog hair in my carpet and the kinetic sand under my dining room table and the congealed oatmeal on the kitchen counter and the fourth skirmish over a plastic light up pirate sword, I'll be able to stop, exhale and remember that this is not only a fresh start to a new week, I've been given a fresh start to a whole new MONTH. And I can work to let Him guide me and hold me and strengthen my resolve to make May the best month of 2017 we've had so far. And I believe it will be. I really do! 

And I hope y'all have an amazing week, as well. Here's to a fresh start of a new month of more Bible studies and prayer times and peacefulness and coffee. 

And thanks for stopping by! ~Katie.