The Enviro Cloth is produced by Norwex, a company committed to preserving quality of life while reducing chemical expose in the home and on the body. It is made out of microfiber cloth with an innovative design that uses anti-bacterial silver particles integrated into the synthetic microfiber, ensure (according to their website):

I purchased the Basic Cleaning Package which included one Enviro Cloth and one Window Cloth (pictured left). I have used the Enviro Cloth for all my basic cleaning. I even had success spot cleaning carpets with it. I have loved it! The Window Cloth (which is smoother in texture to the Enviro Cloth) especially blew my husband and I away. It produced a beautiful lint-free and clean window with just water!

How to clean them?

Where to Buy?

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I have always loved the benefits of rising early; but over the last few months while dealing with sleeping issues, rising early has gone out the window. To be completely honest, I often would lie in bed past 8 o’clock and wallow in self-pity. The longer I would lie there the inevitable result would be increased tiredness. When I would finally be dressed by noon, half my day was gone and the most profitable hours are also lost. Thus I would encourage the entrance of depression and discouragement. Aaron and I determined together that one of our new years goal was to plan and purposefully begin rising early TOGETHER. Accountability is key. Sitting down together to plan out our morning routine was also essential. I determined, by God’s grace, that I needed to rise early, whether or not I slept well. Why do I believe rising early is important?

1. The morning hours are your most profitable moments of the day. You are fresh and energized. You can accomplish more in one hour than most people accomplish in an entire day.

2. It takes time to mentally prepare for the day. As Kat in her e-book, Maximize Your Mornings states, “Professional athletes don’t roll out of bed and stumble into the game. They warm up, talk to their coach and get mentally focused for what is ahead. We need to do the same thing.”

3. Personal quiet time can help maintain peace and harmony in the home. I can testify that without my morning devotions, my flesh tends to be more prone to anger and frustration (my sinful weaknesses). If I don’t focus on the Lord first thing, I often lose sight of my mission as a wife and mother.

“Ever plan for yourself in simple dependence on God. It is nothing less than self-idolatry to conceive that we can carry on even the ordinary matters of the day without His counsel. He loves to be consulted. Consider no circumstance too clear to need his direction. In all thy ways, small as well as great; in all thy concerns, personal or relative; temporal or eternal, let Him be supreme. Who of us has not found the unspeakable ‘peace’ of bringing God matters to minute or individual to be entrusted to the most confidential ear?” - Charles Bridges

Our Plan:

First, we determined what we wanted to include in our morning routine. For us, this included personal devotions, exercise, shower, get dressed, make breakfast, eat breakfast together while having family devotions, concluding with sending Aaron off to work.

Secondly, we mapped out these activities according to our priorities. If nothing else, personal devotions are the most important to us. We believe strongly in beginning our day with the Lord. Sitting at his feet keeps Him the center of our lives and the Source for our strength for the upcoming events of the day. We listed them in order of priority above.

Finally, we mapped out the time frame they needed to take place by. Aaron needs to be out of the house by 8:30am, so we worked back works determining how much time each of these events would take.

Start small. We were previously waking up by 7:00am. Our new goal was 6:00 am. Rather than jumping into that significant adjustment, we started by waking up 5-15 minutes earlier each day. This way it was manageable adjustment and able to be maintained more effectively. Since exercise is one of our priorities for the morning, we also determined to start small here. If we jumped into a strict 30 minute routine, we would fall out relatively quickly, as we have experienced in the past. So we adopted the starting small technique again here – 5-15 minutes each day. Doing a smaller amount more consistently has been proven to be more successful in developing the habit. Exercise in smaller more consistent chunks is also better for your body than random extensive exercising periods.

Collect things for your morning routine the night before. Get things set up in advance for your morning routine so you are not blindly hobbling around at 6:00am trying to find your Bible, exercise clothes, etc.

Make a plan for your devotional time. Choose a Bible Reading plan. You must have a plan to really effectively grow in your faith. There are many different Bible reading plans available free for download at Discipleship Journal or Revive Our Hearts collection of plans. We have used all of these plans at different times in the past and they are very effective.

Plan your day. I have found simply taking 5 minutes to plan my day has increased my productivity. I make a master to-do list of the week during my weekly planning time, but cutting this down to selecting 3-5 things that need to be done today has been helpful. I use a 3 x 5 card to jot down my to-do’s on one side. On the other side, I write out a verse of Scripture from my devotions that I would like to meditate and/or memorize throughout the day. I keep this 3 x 5 card in my back pocket and every time I check my to-do list, I will review the Scripture. It has been very encouraging and edifying!

Our morning routine:

6:00 am – Currently, we are at 6:20 am, working up in 5-10 min increments – Personal Bible reading time individually, plan for the day (make my to-do list)
7:00 am – Exercise (jump rope, push-up’s, crunches, jogging up and down the stairs)
7:15 am – Shower, dress
7:30 am – Kids wake up (roughly), Nurse baby, Aaron get kids dressed
7:45 am – Lindsay prepares breakfast, packs Aaron’s lunch
8:00 am – Eat breakfast, Family devotions (reading one chapter from Proverbs every morning)
8:30 am – Aaron leaves for work, Lindsay cleans up dishes, dinner preparations, quick house pick-up

We committed this plan to the Lord and He has really blessed it. I have never felt so productive in my life! It has been so helpful to develop this plan and carry it out together. The house can be picked up and dinner preparations made by 9:30 am! Formally, this could drag on through lunch. It’s been a huge blessing to our family. I have more energy now in the morning whether or not I slept well the night before. A huge part of this I believe is renewing the priority of quiet time with the Lord. Just getting up and doing the NEXT THING.

I highly recommend and encourage every family to adopt a morning routine, one in which you have quality time with the Lord to prepare your heart for the day, exercise your body to give you health and wholeness, and to prepare and plan for the day ahead!

For more helpful tips for developing your morning routine, please check out Kat’s free e-book, Maximizing Your Mornings.

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I feel the description on the back cover truly encapsulates the book well, “Is your schedule so full you can barely breathe, much less volunteer for a good cause? Do you spend each day worrying about things you can’t control? Are you tired of facing endless mounds of junk? Cluttered homes, overbooked schedules, and maxed-out credit cards are only symptoms of what’s happening on the inside. As you follow God’s directive to clear out the clutter that complicates your life, you’ll discover the clarity you desire. Isn’t it time?”

I love how she keeps the focus on simplifying first and foremost by addressing the core of our hearts, the root problem. Are we trying to find satisfaction in things? Or through maintaining a busy schedule that we don’t have time to think about our discontentment? It starts with your mind and heart! Simplifying is more than just cleaning out closets, drawers, and boxes of receipts.

The book begins by offering a new definition of clutter: “Anything that complicates your life and prevents you from living in peace as you live out your purpose.” She then follows this up by dissecting Hebrews 12:1-2, and addressing it’s application to inner clarity (simplicity of mind-set, getting rid of counterproductive thoughts that clutter your mind), outer clarity (simplicity of daily life – how you use your time and how you relate to your possessions), and finally financial clarity (simplicity of spending – how you relate to your money).

Hebrews 12:1-2 states, “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus…”

This book is a call to acknowledge honestly what is really holding us back. “Throw it off” as Hebrews describes. Get it out of your lives and thoughts, for even good things can lead to sin, if we become consumed with it and turn it into an idol. Nancy shares, “Even noble pursuits become clutter when they endanger our sanity and leave us with no time to connect with God.” You will encounter struggles in the battle (it is hard to say “no”), but remember to keep fixing your eyes on Jesus! He is our Source! He provides the ability to lay aside the clutter in our life and be set free through Christ Jesus. “Through the toughest times in our spiritual lives, it’s our God-empowered persistence that keeps us moving forward.”

“Our suitcases are filled with all kinds of dead weight: habits we need to give up, attitudes we’ve long since outgrown, and activities and possessions that no longer serve a reasonable purpose.” Are you ready to clean out those suitcases? Then, I strongly encourage you to find a copy of this book, and prayerfully read and journal through it. Nancy provides very thoughtful clutter buster questions at the end of each chapter that will provide you with strategic tools for destroying the clutter in your life. She also provides a wealth of practical tips for diagnosing and attacking the clutter in the inner, outer, and financial areas of life.

I personally have grown a lot in understanding how to simplify my life in the outer realm, but while reading this book, I realized how much I had yet to grow in simplifying my life in the inner realm. The Lord has graciously used this book to help provide so much more inner clarity and purpose that I have ever experienced!

I’m eager to read her other book: Celebrate Simply: Your Guide to Simpler, More Meaningful Holidays and Special Occasions! It’s the perfect time of year!

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Christina

Books! Oh glorious books! I am a huge fan of reading myself and it can be easy to amass a large collection, especially if you practice frugal book reading and buying practices. It is definitely very wise to collect books, especially if you can choose them carefully. Books can be very dangerous as well. It is best to take wise precautions and ask thoughtful questions before even purchasing a book. These same questions can be asked as you simplify your collection.

Is this book beneficial and edifying?
Would I or did I grow as a result of this read?
Or is/was it fluffy (light in truth and not really stretching my understanding)?
Would I read it again?
Would this book help build mine or my children’s intellect as a result of this read?
Did it stretch me?
Does this book truthfully retell history?
Does this really deserve a place on my shelf?

Books you will find on my bookshelf include: Christian living (not just light weight books but books that really challenge and grow me spiritually), Bible-study helps, historical books (learn from history or we shall be doomed to repeat it – books that truthfully detail the past), good solid classics (that we enjoy as a family and/or my children will benefit from in the future), and lots of biographies. I love learning about the lives of those who have gone before me, especially missionary biographies. I honestly have only a few select fictional books.

There is definitely a place for fun and light reading, especially on those nights when you can’t sleep, but those books can easily be found at the library and do not need to take up space on your shelves.

If a book really truly deserves a place on your shelf, make sure it gets good use after you have completed it. Loan out your books to family and friends. Start a loaning library or donate books to your church’s library. Share your books and see others be blessed as a result. This is one simple way of being generous! Don’t just let them sit and collect dust for years…make them worth the purchase!

If a book does not deserve a place on your shelf, pass it on! Sell it on Cash4Books or Ebay or simply give it away.

Simplifying the Home School Resource Collection

For all the home school mommies out there, consider giving your input on simplifying the home school resources collection. Some of the above evaluation questions may be helpful, but I would love to hear from those with a bit more experience than I.

Heather asked: I have 7 children and we are relaxed homeschoolers, so the education of my children partially depends on the material we have just hanging around our house, so I keep alot of books. I do use the library, but I also purchase many. There is no telling what the children will be interested in the next day. So getting rid of books is tough. Do you have any helpful guidelines on keeping/getting rid of books?

What tips do you have to share on managing the book collections? Do you have any specific tips for managing home school resources? Please share!

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Karis & Aaron enjoying the quiet streams..Aug 08

“The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.” Psalm 23:1-2

He lets me rest in green meadows. Did you hear that? God desires for us to slow down and take time to rest. He designed it that way! He calls us to rest! Everything is damaged by hurry. Speed does not yield devotion. The more hurried our pace, the less intimate we will feel in relationship to God or any other relationship. Hurry damages intimacy in every relationship. Jesus was never in a hurry. You never hear about him running. He was always sitting down to teach or reclining at meals. You even hear about him sleeping in a boat while a storm ragged around him.

Richard Swenson says in his book The Overload Syndrome, “I have thought long and hard about the issue of speed and have come to believe that it is as much responsible for the problem of personal and societal dysfunction as any other single factor. Virtually all of our relationships are damaged by hurry…I think I would not be far wrong if I were to postulate [say] that our sense of the presence of God is in inverse proportion to the pace of our lives.”

Nancy Leigh Demoss shares in her radio program, titled Slowing Down, “Hurry just is not conducive to godliness. It’s not Christ-like. It’s not conducive to healthy relationships. It’s not conducive to spiritual growth. Godliness and intimacy with God are not cultivated on the run. They require time, meditation, focused attention.”

I encourage you to read the full program or listen to it here.

Let’s not get too wrapped up in that to-do list. Take time to just enjoy your family. Spend time sitting at the Master’s feet rather than being the busy Martha in the kitchen. I’m preaching to myself today!

This is another call to the simple lifestyle…

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This is a speech I wrote in high school that I stumbled upon the other day and wanted to share it with you all. It is rather lengthy, but I was and continue to be passionate about challenging people to read. Encouraging reading in our home is one way to pursue simple and fruitful lifestyles. Why not designate one night a week to be a family reading night? Turn off the distractions, and have every one cuddle up in your favorite spot with a good book and enjoy!

Several decades ago, an American paper manufacturing company ran a series of ads in the major magazines, and each one had the same caption: “Send us a man who reads!” This generation is greatly lacking in the area of reading…we have satisfied our leisure time with numerous hours opposite of the television, lounging with a newspaper in hand, consumed in front of a computer screen, or simply wasting precious time in carefree thought and mindless wandering. We have stripped ourselves of a blessed pleasure that lies within our grasp. Young and old alike have abandoned the age old practice of reading, and it is affecting our intelligence, our character, and the attitude in which we live this life. God’s given each of us a beautiful mind and we control what enters in. Let’s put our minds to better use!

My purpose today is to challenge and encourage one and all in the importance of reading, and to fill those minds with the best of books. I will be fulfilling this by answering the following questions. First of all, why we should read; second, what becomes of readers; thirdly, what to read; and finally, how to read.

For what purpose should we read?

Reading is one of the most positive methods to engage our intellect. “Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” Reading provides nourishment. Numerous individuals are starving their minds by neglecting the nutritious volumes that are available for their reading.

Books are the source of ever-burning and enduring wisdom. All that humans have done, thought, or gleaned in their lifetimes is lying carefully preserved at our fingertips. Books are not just pages of lifeless paper, but minds alive on our shelves.

Mark Twain once said, “The man who doesn’t read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.”

Take the words of Dr. Seuss, “the more that you read, the more things you know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” (48)

Now let me share with you what becomes of readers, through several historical examples of men who used the tool of reading very diligently and faithfully with resounding results. It has been spoken over time that readers become leaders, and we shall see its truth demonstrated through these lives.

Paul the Apostle, a man of persuasive speech, and godly character, laid his life down for the cause of Christ Jesus in the early church. While imprisoned and awaiting trial, he petitioned his fellow worker, Timothy, to bring to him his “the books, but especially the parchments” (1 Tim. 4:13). For what purpose did Paul make this urgent request during the last months of his life? Charles Spurgeon’s commented on this passage: “He is inspired, yet he wants books! He has been preaching at least for 30 years, yet he wants books! He had written the major part of the New Testament, yet he wants books!” (34) Oh, how profitable and fruitful it would be if young and old of this day would possess such a desire and longing for good books!

With only about a year of formal education, Abraham Lincoln, was primarily self-taught. His love of reading began at a very early age. When he was not working to help support the family, he read everything he could get his hands one. He had no teachers. Tramping through the woods for six miles to borrow a grammar is an indication of his thirst for knowledge and the obstacles he overcame to acquire it. Abraham Lincoln is considered by many to be the greatest President of the United States. Where can we credit his wisdom and knowledge? To the countless hours that he spent in learning…

Charles Spurgeon, a young and enthusiastic minister of the gospel, committed himself to reading six books a week. He would not settle for anything less. He became a very influential man…His power and wisdom from the pulpit in the Metropolitan Tabernacle continues to challenge the lives of those in this day and age.

Readers indeed become leaders.

Reading has a powerful influence upon our minds. What we read influences the nature in which we think, and what we think impacts what we believe, and what we believe transforms the manner in which we live. How we conduct ourselves, the substance in our conversations, and the attitude upon our countenance. For these reasons it is critical to be careful in selecting the literature that will saturate your mind. So what should we read?

“Be as careful of the books you read, as of the company you keep; for your habits and character will be as much influenced by the former as by the latter.” –Paxton Hood (31)

It is far more acceptable to refrain from reading altogether, than to satisfy our human desires with foolish books. It is a formidable pursuit of the deceiver’s to keep the crucial things out of our minds, and the good books out of our hands, and in turn poison our minds with idle thoughts, and sensual desires through the literature of this day. His intention is to keep our minds from the possible consideration of our salvation, rob us of our discretionary time, and shed us of our innocence. What are the foolish books that would lead to such an end? The romance novels of this day especially seek to fill us with discontentment and immoral thoughts and desires.

It was said of Marie Antoinette, queen of France in the 1700’s, that she possessed little education due to the fact that she read hardly anything but novels and romances, and despised anything higher in this realm. The longer we read these sorts of books, our knowledge will diminish as well.

Several years ago, romance novels were commonly in my hands…love and marriage filled my heart with such warm feelings! Yet, while my thoughts dwelt on these pursuits, discontentment grew in my heart towards my current situations. Was this profitable for me? By no means…if continued in for an extensive period of time, I no doubt believe it would have lead to my downfall and the wasting of my life in worldly pursuits. Thanks to the Lord’s graciousness, He lifted me from this foolish state and filled me with a passion to read those books that would challenge and encourage my pursuit of holiness.

But where do I begin reading the good books? You may ask. Where are the profitable books that will challenge us and increase our minds in knowledge?

The Word of God should be our first and foremost priority in this day and age. It should be the uttermost influencer upon our lives. God has graciously supplied us with a precious book that contains the very words of our Great and mighty Creator through which we might grow to know and understand the glorious ways of His majesty.

Let the Holy Scriptures have the pre-eminence, and following this our minds should be furnished with materials that guide us to a superior understanding and application of the truths contained therein.

It is essential that we also read books that will assist us in serving the Lord more effectively, along with books that would contribute to build and invigorate our lives. This may come in the form of true historical accounts of the lives of courageous men and woman who dedicated their lives for a purposeful and faithful cause. Take up biographies and missionary accounts, for they will be instrumental in inspiring you to pursue your goals with ever increased joy and delight. Read the classics that have stood the test of time, and especially those challenging books that you have always thought mind-boggling and have quickly set aside and avoided altogether.

We have such limited time upon this earth to surrender any of it to fruitless reading…heed the counsel of Henry Thoreau, “Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.” (17)

The books that will profit you most are those in which make you ponder the most. The easiest way to fail in the field of learning is to pursue easy and light reading. A great book in the hands of a thinker is a mighty ship filled with truth and beauty.

A new book is published in this country every 13 minutes. New books have a constant tendency of distracting us from reading the old ones. C.S. Lewis advised readers to make the routine of reading an old book in between every new one. The old have withstood the test of time, being judged and critiqued by the body of Christians through the ages. To maintain an exclusive contemporary diet is a dangerous ground, because they have not yet been subject to trial.

Now when you sit down to pursue the art of reading, you may ask, “how do you read a book?” Yes, reading is indeed an art. Imagine the words on the pages drifting in one ear and wandering out the other as quickly as they came in. Or picture the reading experience similar to the manner in which you eat each meal. As the food enters your mouth, do you quickly swallow without chewing? By no means…if so, we would rob ourselves of the pleasures of taste. Yet in our reading habits this is a common pitfall. We must allow time for mental digestion, or else this food will produce no benefit, and our minds will quickly wither away to unintelligence.

Abraham Lincoln was once asked what he was reading, and he replied: “I’m not reading — I’m studying.”

As readers, we need to dedicate ourselves to reading and pondering. Ask yourself, “How can I apply this to my life?” Read your books systematically, thoughtfully, closely, analyzing every subject, so that you might effectively store up the truths in your memory. Through this manner, you will be storing accurate, extensive, and useful information.

Always read with a pen in hand, make use of the margins for notes and thoughts, so that you can effectively look back at a later date and be reminded of the truths contained therein. This is the best method of imprinting important or useful information in your memory.

Young and old should not be without the love of reading. “The love of books is the doorway through which we enter into the purest and perfect pleasure God has prepared for us. Love of books lasts when all other pleasures pass.” (31) If we do not treasure the privilege of reading, we should cultivate it. We ought to make it a habit. If we are persistent in applying this habit, a love for reading will blossom forth, and this love will continue to multiply and increase as the years go by.

You may inject that you have not the time to devote to this habit, and yet developing the art of reading comes from appointing and making time. We always create the necessary time for the things that are important to us. How do you use the twenty-four hours that God has allotted in each day? If you would simply devote thirty minutes a day to serious reading, you could complete the average book in a week’s time. Carry a book around with you wherever you go, in order to not waste a moment in the doctors or dentists office, while on a plane, or anywhere that might involve a wait. Put these periods to profitable usage, and you will not regret it. Not only will your mind be enriched, your heart will be encouraged and uplifted to face the challenges that are ahead.

Proceed from here today and take up that good book, find a quiet corner, and indulge yourself to your hearts content. It will be well worth it!

“No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.”

–Atwood H. Townsend

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Kate

I myself had a large collection of childhood memories, special cards, crafts I had made, treasures I had collected over the years, all of which I brought with me when Aaron and I got married. And of course, Aaron had a box of his own goodies. I think the thing that helped me the most was to designate just one box/tote for this purpose. I forced myself to consolidate it all into one container. Giving yourself a limit may very well help you truly evaluate whether an item is worth keeping. It helped me take more serious thought as to which items are most special to me. It gave me motivation to compile all the special cards and photos from our courtship into an scrapbook that could be seen and enjoyed in daily view. Special cards, tickets stubs, programs from various events through our courtship were stored in the back of the scrapbook in a large envelope, which I glued inside the back cover. I plan to do this same idea as we collect our children’s cards and artwork in the future.

It helped me weed out all the trophies from piano events in the past and limit it to just one for memory sake. I saved just one or two of the special craft/sewing projects I had made as a child. Funny thing…this box still sits at the bottom of a stack of children’s clothing boxes in our closet. It rarely sees the light of day but it is indeed fun to keep for my children’s enjoyment in the future.

Ultimately, only you can decide what to keep and what must be parted with.

Christine Sutton says it best in her post, Treasured Keepsakes or Clutter?, “Only you can decide which items hold most meaning and importance for you. As you decide which items to keep, we do offer a word of advice. Keep those items that truly stir your heart or capture important events, and allow yourself to release the rest.

In her book, The Gift of the Sea, Anne Morrow Lindbergh compares our lives to the process of collecting seashells. Imagine that you are exploring the beach, gathering shells along the way. Each time you uncover a shell, you carefully consider its beauty and uniqueness. You decide whether or not it is worth keeping. By carefully choosing which shells to keep, you end up with a small collection of beautiful shells that bring you joy. If you had insisted on keeping every shell, then your beautiful shells would be lost in the mass of other shells.

The same can be said for your memorabilia. If you insist on keeping every item that is attached to a memory of an event or special person in your life, then you will soon be overwhelmed, and your truly precious keepsakes will be lost among the masses.”

Christine shares some great ideas for preserving memorabilia, including the idea of just taking photos of your children’s artwork so that you keep the reminder but get rid of the bulk.

A few questions that may be helpful to ask while simplifying:

- Will this item have a future use?
- Will my children appreciate having this item in the future?

Ultimately, I always strive to remember that the goal in simplifying is to have less clutter that takes time to maintain and care for in order to open up time to enjoy the important things of life…family, friends, and a needy world around us. The more we hoard the more energy is required to preserve it.

Further Reading

Holding on To Sentimental Things – by Small Notebook

The floor is open…do you have any tips on simplifying your memorabilia?

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Amanda shares, “We don’t have to ‘teach’ our children to be creative – inherent in the very core of children’s beings is the embodiment of creativity…A large part of nurturing a spirit of creativity comes from being mindful, slowing down, observing, and looking around you at the beauty and inspiration all around…The joyful act of creating together can be positively magical and truly a gift for everyone. Much of our cultural energy is spent filling our minds, hearts, and time with things outside our families, as is evident in the smaller amount of time that families spent together at home…The experience of turning inward toward your family for creative fulfillment can be an amazing and powerful experience for the entire family -young and old.”

We really don’t have to ‘teach’ our children to be creative! We just have to supply our children with the tools necessary to apply that creativity! This book is full of fun ideas for simple projects, games, and crafts to encourage imagination in your family. She shares about building your craft closet to have items ready to allow children to explore and draw. She invites you to build a dress up box full of items to inspire stories and performances.

I love how she gives an abundance of ideas for doing it all frugally as well! You don’t have to invest in expensive supplies, as nature provides us with many inspirations for creativity. Find items in the pantry (beans, popcorn kernels, noodles and seeds), nature (pine cones, wood, leaves, bark, stones), thrift shops, and trash/recycling (old magazines, calenders, etc) and let their creative juices flow!

My favorite ideas include holding a regular family drawing night and together exploring an article of creation, or photo from a magazine, etc. The family sits down with their own drawing notebooks and draws the chosen object and then discusses the differences of their drawings and other questions. I also loved the questions she offered for evaluating what kind of toys we bring into our homes: is it beautiful? Is it simple? What is it made of? What senses does it use? How is it organized? Is there too much? She offered a profound observation: “A sad product of our modern world is that our children are taught early on to over consume and to want more, more, and more. Chances are that they do not need more toys, but fewer. When there are too many things around, there’s little room for imagination.” So many of the toys on the market “do it all”, entertaining our children and leaving no room to develop their creative senses. Bring nature indoors and let their creative minds be put to work. Yarn/Fabric baskets with different textures of fabric, pine cones for stacking or dolls, rocks for painting, wooden blocks, and more provide equal if not superior joy and inspiration.

Highly recommend this read! I cannot wait to read her next book, Handmade Home: Simple Ways to Repurpose Old Materials into New Family Treasures, scheduled to be released this next month.

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“Having alot of things–whether it’s furniture or knick-knacks or things you think you might need but never end up using–can make [home maintenaince] an overwhelming, or seemingly overwhelming, task. Clutter or crowded spaces can make even a clean house seem not so clean. When the  clutter is gone, cleaning is easier and the house actually looks clean when I’m done…A neat space is much more inviting than a clean, yet cluttered, place.”

So true! When I am regularly decluttering, housecleaning is so much easier and my home is a more refreshing and restful place to be. Clutter only builds tension in my home and takes so much more time to maintain. Join me in simplifying for the sake of our families, our envirorment, and in order to use our time wisely. As homemakers, let’s not waste our energy on excess clutter-it’s just not worth it! Be aggressive! Don’t hold on to anything you don’t need and think carefully and wisely before each new purchase or addition.

I am encouraged today with this wonderful tip!

Current Sponsors:

• Trill Fitness - Online Fitness & Nutrition Consulting Lasting Change and Definite Results
• The Cozy Bunny -Helping Families Live Healthier Lifestyles & Promoting Elimination Communication/Diaper Free
• ListPlanIt - Hundreds of printable lists & planning pages to put your world in order
• Envibum - Premium affordable cloth diapers helping families grow healthy, wealthy, and dry
• Paula's Bread - Personal service enhancing nutrition and saving money, one kitchen at a time
• NaturOli - Pure & Natural body care, green housecleaning with soap nuts
• Mountain Rose Herbs - Organic spices, herbs, oils & teas

Home, the spot of earth supremely blest, A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest.
Robert Montgomery

I’m curious to know what a day’s schedule is like for you. You really have such great priorities and I’m wondering how you fit everything in each day or week? Between taking care of your kids, husband, spending time with the Lord, serving, planning, buying food from different sources, cooking, cleaning…How do you do it? I’m encouraged by your site and tips, and want to start so many things you’ve shared as I’m getting married soon and want to make my home a haven without getting overwhelmed with all the details. Any tips on some of the best ways you organize your time?

Dear friend, let me first say, I commend you for making an effort to develop good organization habits prior to getting married! Secondly, may I just say that there are different seasons in life. There are times when the schedule goes out the window (like when we welcomed #2!), and other times when God draws us back into a period of rest and reviewing our lives to eliminate anything that might be causing stress or mixing up our priorities. It is important to seek to make your home a haven, but it must not be pursued before maintaining peaceful relationships in your home. Keep are some thoughts the Lord has graciously taught me…

1. Keep your relationship with the Lord first and rise early.

We strive to wake up each day by 6:30 am so we can have some refreshing times in the Word both independently and together. We get far more accomplished in our day when we start early enough. Lately this has definitely been rough to maintain with a little guy that is keeping us up late into the night, but it is our goal. I personally cannot pursue a wise management of my home apart from my relationship with the Lord. I need to cry out to Him daily for the ability to faithfully complete the task He has called for me. Even if I can just take a few moments to pray, pick a verse to meditate upon throughout the day, I am strengthened to complete my homemaking responsibilities with a joyful countenance. May the Joy of the Lord be your strength! (Nehemiah 8:9-12).

Eliminate physical clutter. More importantly, eliminate spiritual clutter. ~D.H. Mondfleur

2. Keep your priorities in the right place. Maintain regular date nights & family nights.

I have really been enjoying implementing a focused time with my little ones. Each day, Karis and I sit down for an hour to do various learning activities together. This helps keeps my priorities in the right place. Relationships are first! When I keep this in balance, by Gods grace, everything else falls into place.

3. Take time to rest.

Acknowledge Sunday as the Lord’s appointed day of rest. Take time to be a family and enjoy each other’s company! If you can take regular prayer retreats to just get away for a few hours, or a whole day, it does wonders for maintaining a God-centered perspective in your calling.

4. Maintain a right perspective of the home.

What is the purpose of your home? My purpose is to maintain a peaceful restful home. I want it to be a haven for my family and those I welcome in hospitality. This provides me good Biblical motivation to keep it maintained in an orderly fashion. Simplifying allows for more time to focus on relationships with your family and others.

A good home must be made, not bought.
Joyce Maynard

5. Have an annual/bi-annual re-haul of your home.

This is my number one means of keeping a simple home. I am continually seeking to de-clutter. When my home is organized and simple, there is peace. My goal is to have a place for everything and everything in its place as much as possible. More stuff means more things to maintain, clean, organize, break and replace! At the beginning of every year, I progressively work through each room in our home and thoroughly de-clutter. I mean thoroughly! Be aggressive! Don’t hold on to anything you don’t need. If it hasn’t been used in a few months, it is removed. I then take a load to charity (i.e. Pregnancy Resource Center, charity clothing store) or sell items on craigslist. Once you do this, each following year becomes easier! I complete an extensive cleaning spree just prior to Summer and also clear out any excess. These items then get stored for a summer garage sale.

6. Complete a daily to-do list (but keep it flexible!).

Every night before I retire, I try to compile a brief list of tasks for the next day. This helps me plan in advance and get a good start on the next day. Writing it down helps me sleep better! My list is never more than five items in length. Keep it manageable, especially if you have children around.

7. Hold a weekly family planning meeting.

This was a habit developed when I was growing up. Every Sunday evening, our family would gather in the living room to discuss our schedules for the weeks, transportation needs, etc. Now, Aaron and I take a few moments each Sunday evening and sync our schedules for the week. Helps keep us organized and communicating well.

8. Develop Morning & Evening routines.

Having a simple list of morning responsibilities helps give me a kick start for the day. My list includes: Prepare breakfast, think ahead and make dinner preparations, fill up water bottle, clean kitchen, etc. After dinner I complete the following tasks: clean up kitchen, quick house pick up, make quick meal preparations for the next day (pull out anything from the freezer, soak something, etc), and finally make a to-do list for the next day.

9. Make a regular schedule for cleaning/house maintenance.

How can you peacefully maintain housecleaning? Map out a simple schedule for your home maintenance. One load of laundry a day, bathrooms on Tuesday, Kitchen on Wednesday, or whatever method suits you. Write it out and place it in a visible spot that you view most frequently. I prefer keeping housecleaning to once a week myself, but then again I have a small two bedroom condo to maintain so it is fairly easy to do so. This is basic housecleaning though. I rarely get to indepth cleaning at this season of my life. Things are picked up, bathrooms cleaned, dust, and vacuumed throughout the house. We leave those deep cleaning projects for our annual spring cleaning spree.

10. Work quickly.

It seems basic but it is important to set your mind to a task and stick to it! Whatever you hand finds to do, do it with all your might! (Eccl. 9:10)

11. Conquer your distraction.

We all have them. Too much of anything can be a bad thing. Too much computer, phone, email or even reading. My weakness is too much computer time and God graciously is working on me by removing my computer all together. Ephesians 5:16 says, “Make the most of your time for the days are evil.”

12. Make a simple schedule for your days activities.

For our family, having a simple schedule is very beneficial but not completely necessary. Rather than mapping out hour by hour how our day will transpire, I work around a model of “themes” or focuses for each day of the week. This gives me more freedom to not get overly consumed with my to-do list as it is much more simplified.

For example:

Mondays: Organizing for the week, Finish laundry (if necessary)
Wednesdays: Housecleaning (one week I clean the upstairs, the following week I clean the downstairs)
Thursdays: Baking Day (Karis and I like to make one or two recipes of muffins, coffeecake, etc. for the upcoming week – this is our morning activity together)
Fridays: Errands (I have simplified our lives a lot by doing a monthly shopping run based upon our monthly menu plan and a weekly errand run)
Saturdays: Laundry day

That being said, a day in our life looks something like this:

6:30 am – Rise, personal devotions, exercise (Tues & Thurs), family devotions
8:30 am- Breakfast and morning routine
10-11 am – Karis learning time – our focused time together
11:30 am – Prepare lunch
1:00 pm – Children down for afternoon nap while mommy rests, reads, blogs or does errands
4:30 pm – Dinner prep
5:30 pm – Dinner and evening routine
8:00 pm – Kids to bed and hubby time

That’s about it! I love the simple life…

For further inspiration for simplifying in many aspects of your home, check out my Simple Living Series. Join me in the nitty gritty aspects of simplifying my home.

Simplifying in the Bedroom
Simplifying Menu Planning
Simplifying in the Bathroom
Simplifying in the Kitchen
Simplifying Your Wardrobe
Simplifying Your Purchases
Simplifying the Toy Collection
Simplifying Your Home Office

Further Resources:

Managers of Their Home by Steve & Teri Maxwell – this is a helpful resource especially for home school mothers for managing your homes. My mom used this constantly growing up in order to manage all the different schedules of a household with eight children.
Shopping for Time: How to Do it All and Not Be Overwhelmed by Carolyn Mahaney – my favorite read on maintaining a proper balance of being wise users of time, keeping Christ first, and still maintaining your home. Read my review here.
Confessions of an Organized Homemaker – a great practical book on home organization.

What tips can you have to share?

Current Sponsors:

• Trill Fitness - Online Fitness & Nutrition Consulting Lasting Change and Definite Results
• The Cozy Bunny -Helping Families Live Healthier Lifestyles & Promoting Elimination Communication/Diaper Free
• ListPlanIt - Hundreds of printable lists & planning pages to put your world in order
• Envibum - Premium affordable cloth diapers helping families grow healthy, wealthy, and dry
• Paula's Bread - Personal service enhancing nutrition and saving money, one kitchen at a time
• NaturOli - Pure & Natural body care, green housecleaning with soap nuts
• Mountain Rose Herbs - Organic spices, herbs, oils & teas