She Buildeth Her House

Time Management

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A Decluttering Question That Will Simplify Your Life!

I dropped and broke a mug yesterday.

My first thought was one of relief. “At least I don’t have to declutter that when I finally go through that cabinet.”

Which made me start thinking…”What else out of there would make me strangely relieved if it accidentally broke?”

So … my new question when decluttering items I can’t decide about is this: “If it suddenly got destroyed would I be relieved or seek to replace it?”

Ask yourself the same question.

You’re welcome. 🙂

Now … go spend 10 minutes and simplify that area that’s been bugging you (but maybe don’t shatter your unwanted items like I did. A week later we are still getting glass in our feet 😂) and let me know if this question helped!

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Two Truths to Lean On When the Pressure is Too Much

Have you ever felt like you may just collapse from all the pressure you’re under? Or maybe like you just want to sit down and cry?

I sure have.

But I have good news! 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says speaks of God as One who comforts us in our tribulation. The word “tribulation” in the Greek according to Strong’s concordance literally means pressure. And if you look up pressure it means “the continued action of a weight or force” in Webster’s dictionary.

The society we live in puts so much pressure on us. We put pressure on ourselves. Sometimes the pressures are weight from our own sinful choices. Sometimes the pressure is from things far beyond our control.

Whatever the cause, the pressure is real.

The word comfort in this verse means “to call near.” I looked up call and found that among its many meanings are these: “a command; an invitation; to ask to come.” And the word near means “close; not far away.” I know this may not seem profound to you but I’m going somewhere, I promise!

From this verse, the God of the universe commands…invites…asks me to come close to Him when I’m under pressure. Not to go far away, but to come close. And that coming close IS comfort. Being close to Him is what comfort actually IS. He is the Comforter.

Satan likes to isolate us. Make us feel alone. Unloved. Uncared for.

But friend, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

He’s ready. Waiting. Inviting you to come close to Him so He can give you all the care your heart needs. After all, contrary to what so many of us believe and feel, God isn’t out to get us. If we are His children, He can can bring joy beyond what I can express! “In thy presence is fullness of joy and at thy right hand there are pleasures forever more.” Psalm 16:11

So today, take a breath if the pressure feels too heavy…and remember these two truths:

1. Comfort IS being in His presence. You won’t find true peace or comfort anywhere else on this earth no matter how hard you look. You won’t find it in work or in leisure. In perfectionism or in no giving up altogether. In doing all the things or in hiding from all the things. Only He can soothe your heart’s deepest cries. If you’ve never trusted Him, do it today! You’ll never regret it.

2. When the pressure is so very heavy, run TO Him, not away. Run toward His presence. Not hiding. Not ashamed. Not fearful and ashamed. Not trying to fix it all on your own. Not trying to earn His blessings or favor. He’s waiting and inviting you to come. You don’t have to be fancy. If you’ve sinned, just repent and come. If you make a choice to come to Him…He’ll never turn you away.

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Fun Activity to Give Mommy a Minute to Rest!

So I had read about this idea online. And yet I never did it. Sometimes all the ideas just blur together…they seem fun, but too much work. This idea is NOT like that.

My sweet girl has been on an archeologist kick lately. And so it seemed like a good time to try it.

I don’t know what to call it. Maybe a dino dig. Maybe ice digging. But whatever you want to call it, your kids will love it!

Just find some random little toys.

Trucks.

Rings.

Dinosaurs.

Even coins would work!

Then put them in ice trays or Tupperware containers or both and add a drop or two of food coloring if you really want to go all out 😉

Freeze it.

Collect a couple paint brushes, salt, and maybe a cup of warm water. Tell then they are archeologists and have to dig out the artifacts. You can even google facts about archeologists and read them while they are doing it if you’re feeling really motivated.

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Even my two year old who WON’T sit still was mesmerized. Like it bought me at least 30 min or more of time not having to chase him around the yard.

With older kids, you could use money and they get to keep it!

They are begging to do it again.

You’re welcome.

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Three Ways for Moms to Add Time into their Day

Moms are busy. Moms are tired. And if you’re anything like me, you’re usually wishing for more hours in the day…because no matter what, it often doesn’t feel like there’s enough!

I’d like to share a couple tips I’ve learned to help me feel like my day has more time. I don’t always DO them, but if and when I do, I can tell such a difference.

1. PUT THE BIG THINGS FIRST. I saw an illustration once in Sunday school that I’ve never forgotten. The teacher brought in a jar and some ping pong balls. She put the balls in the jar and asked if it was full. We agreed it was.

Then she brought out some tiny beads. She poured them in the jar and they filled in the cracks. She asked again if it was full, and we said that it was indeed full this time.

Then she pulled out sand. Poured it in. We laughed and were certain this time that it was full…only for her to pour water in the jar.

She asked what would have happened if we’d started with the beads, or sand, or water.

There’d be no room for anything else.

And so it is with our lives. When we start our day with the “little things,” whatever they may be in your life, without taking time for the “big things” like spending a few moments alone with our Lord in Bible reading and prayer, then things feel like they won’t fit…because they won’t. The urgent overtakes the important.

But if you choose the “big things” and deliberately put them in first, you’ll notice a difference. However, the choice is YOURS to make.

As moms, it is tricky to find alone time. I totally get that. As a rule, I’d suggest definitely trying to get up before the kids, but if you are in a season of life when you have young babies, that’s not always possible. So when is your alone time supposed to be??

I heard this little way of deciding if you legitimately don’t have time or if you are just making excuses, and it has been very helpful to me. Each day, when you first find yourself doing something for you…like scrolling on your phone…that can (and should!) be your alone time with Jesus. Even if it’s only 5 minutes! Maybe make a rule for yourself (and ask a friend to keep you accountable!) that you can’t catch up on social media or check emails until you’ve spent time with Jesus…AND undistracted time with your kids. Which brings me to my next time-saving idea….

2. Just say no to endless mommy screen time.

This is a real struggle for a lot of moms I know, including this mom at times!

We complain we don’t have enough time. And yet we waste minutes which turn to hours … which add up to days, weeks, months of our life scrolling needlessly online.

Ouch.

I have found that a lot of meaningful conversations with my kids happen in those in between moments. They aren’t planned. They just happen. And so if we choose to use our time ignoring our kids and looking for something interesting in our online world…instead of engaging with them, how many of those moments and conversations do we miss? What kind of effect is that having on them?

How many conversations or sweet fun moments have you missed in real life because you were trying to find something interesting on Facebook?

Here’s a personal example…bathtime. The kids are distracted, yet I need to keep an eye on them, so… perfect time for Facebook, right?

Well, what if you I used those 10 minutes to fold laundry and just chat with the kiddos instead?

And don’t tune me out if it’s not bath time that you waste. You know you. So think about when you could lay down the phone and engage with your kids instead. It may seem like a choice too small to even make a difference, but lots of little decisions like tha throughout your day (and your life!) make a major difference in the atmosphere of your house… from the attitudes of yourself and your kids, to the overall tidiness and peacefulness of your home.

Please note, this suggestion isn’t to induce guilt. It comes from experience! Writing this post isn’t to brag that I’ve never ignored my kids (much to my shame, I have!!) But it is to draw attention to the fact that we as moms often create our own reality, and sometimes the problems we complain the most about are ones that we create ourselves.

Like…maybe your kids don’t behave because you haven’t trained them to do so.

Maybe your house is a mess because you are too busy looking at other people’s Pinterest worthy homes, instead of doing something productive at our your own home.

Maybe your marriage is falling apart because you are investing time in impressing people online who you’ve never even met, instead of looking for ways to impress and encourage the one you’ve pledged to help for the rest of your life.

Successful people often get ahead in the moments that other people waste, you know.

Read that again.

Successful people often get ahead in the moments that other people waste.

What time of day is coming to mind that you could be more intentional about being present by putting the phone away and creating a life you love instead of one you want to escape from?

Now…what are you going to DO about it???

3. Stick to premade decisions.

Maybe I’m the only one who does this, but I’ll decide on a great new rule… like “No eating anywhere in the house except the kitchen.” But then someone begs to eat in the living room “just this once” because of some really good reason.

And I’m tired. Or stressed. Or maybe I just don’t feel like being the rule enforcer. And so I give in.

When this happens, it sets off a chain of events that steal time and energy from me!!

First of all, there are crumbs and fingerprints and spills and smudges to clean up in other rooms of the house now.

Second, I find myself in a not-so-happy mood because my rule has been disobeyed (even though I technically am the one who allowed it to be disobeyed).

And third, my children are more likely to ask again down the road to bend other rules, because I gave in this time, PLUS I am more likely to let other rules slide, and therefore reap the consequences of that.

Oh and other thing…because of my mood change I’m less motivated to do other things that I may have otherwise wanted to do. See the bad chain reaction? NOT a good trade off.

So mommas, STICK TO YOUR RULES! Most likely if you have a rule, there’s a reason for it. And if there isn’t a reason for it, change your rule!

I hope these little tips make you feel like you have a little more time in your day…and therefore you get to enjoy your days a little more instead of counting the minutes til bedtime. 🙂

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How I Tamed the Toy Chaos

I have two sweet kids, ages 1 and 5. They LOVE toys.

I love my kids.

I love to PLAY with my kids.

I do NOT love tripping over and stepping on their toys.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash


Also, for those of you who don’t know, my husband is totally blind, and so if I were to ask him, I would bet he doesn’t love tripping over them either.

So for my sanity (and his physical safety!) I decided I had to tackle our toy problem.

After researching and wondering how on earth I was ever going to make any progress, I had just had enough one day, and decided to just do it!

I didn’t have a really sophisticated system, so if you’re looking for that sort of thing…you may just want to head off to another blog!! But if your’e looking for simple solutions…here’s what I did:

  1. Get a babysitter/mother’s helper or put on a movie to distract the kids!
  2. Gather big black trash bags and grocery bags. (If you have other containers to use that are prettier, feel free to use them, but I just used what I had on hand and it worked just fine!! )
  3. Put each toy set with multiple parts (i.e. little people, puzzles, legos, building blocks, etc. ) in a bag and tie it so they don’t get lost.
  4. Put those bags and any big toys in big black trash bags.
  5. GET RID of anything broken or they absolutely don’t play with at all anymore.
  6. CHOOSE ONLY ONE TOY WITH MULTIPLE PARTS ACCESSIBLE TO THE KIDS AT A TIME! (Don’t feel guilty! Just try it and you can always go back to how things were!) I didn’t include books, games, or craft supplies in this rule personally, but do what works for you!
  7. Neatly put that toy set, along with any other single part toys you wish for them to access, in the space you have available. (A stuffed animal, a dress up hat, a doll, a big truck, etc.)
  8. Put anything that won’t COMFORTABLY fit in the space you have available for toys OUT OF SIGHT. Maybe in an outbuilding, attic, bottom of your closet, wherever you have room. (Make sure kids can’t get to them without your help or you’ll have a big mess on your hands!)
  9. Every week or two, rotate out a couple of the toys, and your kids will act like it’s Christmas!! (Trust me, I didn’t think that this would be true for my kiddos either, but it was! Just try it!!)
  10. Enjoy the extra time with your kids, as well as the extra time to yourself because they’ll play a lot better if they aren’t overwhelmed…or at least mine have been!!

Note: It’s not mean. It’s not punishment. It’s just a way to help your family be able to more easily take care of the space God has given you as a family to live in, and therefore spend time on more things that truly matter!! And the bonus is that your kids will learn to be more creative with what they have, and more grateful!

And if you are all about teaching your kid to be self-sufficient, as I am, this will help them to be able to more easily clean up their own stuff!

JUST TRY IT!! It likely won’t take as long as you think. Your feet will thank you. AND you will thank yourself when you see how much less picking up you have to do, and how much more time you have to play with your kids instead of just helping them clean up their toys!

Let me know how it goes!!

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A Random Cleaning Tip that Has SERIOUSLY Improved My Life!

Photo by Sarah Brown on Unsplash

It’s so easy to fall into the trap of wasting time online. (Trust me, I know…)

But every once in awhile you come across a tip that REALLY helps!! I recently came across one just like that and wanted to share.

I’ve been following the blog “A Slob Comes Clean” and based on her descriptions of “normal” people….I fear I have the mindset of a slob! BUT thankfully I found her super helpful blog, and a lot of the little things in my life that drive me mad she seems to address in a way that makes sense to me!

One such issue.

LAUNDRY.

I hate laundry. Because its NEVER done. I have subscribed to the idea of doing a load a day to keep the chaos at bay. Except that means there’s ALWAYS a load in the washer, in the dryer, or to be put away (or sometimes all three…) And then there’s the piles sitting around, ALWAYS reminding me that my work is not done yet.

Enter life-changing method: do all your laundry on one day a WEEK. Instead of a routine, you can view it as a project for the day. And when it’s done…it’s done!!

If you do this, guess what? No piles! No reminders of work undone!! Just put the laundry straight in the hamper and go on with your day.

Click here to read all the ins and outs of it.
https://www.aslobcomesclean.com/2010/04/here-it-is-my-laundry-day-in-all-of-its/

Also, if you have littles, involve them!! My 5 year old LOVES laundry day and she knows where a large part of her clothes go and is such a blessing to me by being such a good helper!!

Simple tip. BIG change in my life. Hope it does the same for you!

I won’t sit here and beg you. But if you ever get desperate for a new way to do things, seriously just try it. It is very helpful for forgetful people like myself because you do it all in one day. (i.e. no surprises found in the washer three days later…or maybe its just me that does that…..) And my favorite part…THERE IS AN END!! At the end of laundry day, anything dirty from that day stays in the hamper and gets washed next week!! There have been a couple exceptions but as a rule…this saves so much time for me because I’m not doing multiple small loads, just a few big ones and I sort them all by who’s room they go in, put them away all at the same time, and DONE!