My laundry is never-ending. Why is that? The carpet always needs vacuuming, even if I’ve just done it that morning. Seriously, why is that? What did I accomplish today? {sigh}

I have this insane idea that I will clean up my home, get organized, de-cluttered all in one fell swoop and then keep it that way. And it works. And then it doesn’t. We have an appointment, a child gets sick, or a baby is fussy. Everything falls apart and the perfection princess in me reasons that I need a whole day  to pull it all back together so I do nothing until I have the time (and energy!) to do it all. In the mean time, I do not have peace in my home {or within myself or my relationships} because things are in tatters.

So how do I have peace in my home? By prioritizing. I have two tots and a baby. My home is not show-home worthy. I need to let go of the idea that it needs to be. I may need an entire day (or two!) to put my home back in order after ‘life has happened’ however I do not need an entire day to accomplish something. I can accomplish something in as little as two minutes.

Is your home a wreck?

When trying to climb out of a setback – STOP. ASSESS. DO ONE THING. What is the most pressing task that needs to be done now? Does everyone have something clean to wear for the next day? If the answer is no, then a load of laundry is an order.

The Most Important Tasks

I want to be careful that I am not neglecting the important things because I am always just ‘putting out the fires’ of the urgent. So what are my home priorities? As I stand in the middle of my home, I ask myself, “What things, if done, give me peace in my home?”

The answer for me is: front rooms tidy, beds made, and no piles of clean laundry burying my room. I know from asking my husband, that tidy kitchen counters are something that makes him feel at peace in the home so we’ll add that in too.

So this year it is my goal to implement this simple routine: to wake up and make my bed, to only wash the laundry I can finish in a day, to immediately load the dishwasher after meals, and to tidy my front rooms (sitting room/dining room) before bed. These are not lofty goals but they are a fantastic start.

By ensuring that my standard for clean lines up with the season of life I am in, I can allow myself peace in my home.

How do you balance family and housework?

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Jenn is wife to one, mother of three and above all, a humble servant seeking to honor the Lord with her life. Peace in My Home is a post from Beautiful Calling.

Does it really matter in the long run? How important is this to me? I’ve been mentally asking myself these questions and choosing peace over confrontation more often. I’m trying to be more patient. I’m trying to say yes more often; to embrace the day. I want to inspire, encourage and love!

I want to choose others over myself. I want to sacrifice my time and wants, and pour out myself for my family and for other; to invest my time where it matters – in people.

I want to look beyond today to the great beyond of the future. How will this choice affect me then; my husband, my children? I want to see things in perspective.

Especially with my children, I want to be consistent. I want to do what I say I will do and for them to know exactly what they can expect from me.

I want to choose people over housework. It sounds like a funny statement to have to declare but far too often, I have the mindset that I will get the house in order and then I will read to them, play with them, and enjoy them. But sometimes the day goes by and before you know it, its bedtime and I haven’t accomplished those things that are most important to me.

Lord, help me to love my family better. Help me to love people as you do.

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Jenn is wife to one, mother of three and above all, a humble servant seeking to honor the Lord with her life. Peace in My Relationships is a post from Beautiful Calling.

Does it really matter in the long run? How important is this to me? I’ve been mentally asking myself these questions and choosing peace over confrontation more often. I’m trying to be more patient. I’m trying to say yes more often; to embrace the day. I want to inspire, encourage and love!

I want to choose others over myself. I want to sacrifice my time and wants, and pour out myself for my family and for other; to invest my time where it matters – in people.

I want to look beyond today to the great beyond of the future. How will this choice affect me then; my husband, my children? I want to see things in perspective.

Especially with my children, I want to be consistent. I want to do what I say I will do and for them to know exactly what they can expect from me.

I want to choose people over housework. It sounds like a funny statement to have to declare but far too often, I have the mindset that I will get the house in order and then I will read to them, play with them, and enjoy them. But sometimes the day goes by and before you know it, its bedtime and I haven’t accomplished those things that are most important to me.

Lord, help me to love my family better. Help me to love people as you do.

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Jenn is wife to one, mother of three and above all, a humble servant seeking to honor the Lord with her life. Peace in My Relationships is a post from Beautiful Calling.

I’m not always happy with myself. How about you? Oh, I’m not talking about the fact that I am never happy with my hair {a whole other story}. I’m talking about inside me.

I have a tendency to want to do it all; to have expectations of myself that are too lofty or unrealistic. At times, I look at others and wonder why they are able to _____ and I can’t manage to ____.  But I can’t do it all. No one can. God didn’t design me to do it all. He designed me to lean on Him.

So how do I have peace with myself? By prioritizing! Who am I right now in this season? What are my priorities in this season? I’m going to focus on those.

I found an alterations shop that has reasonable prices and have gotten to know the owner quite well. I am her most unique customer. While other customers come in with pants to be hemmed and clothes to be dry cleaned, I show up with a torn princess dress, a button to be sewn on pants, a fairy wand with ribbons needing repairs, a pillow with a hole, Barbie clothes that need their seams fixed and more! Before, I would have put it in a pile to try and get to. I felt no peace, knowing I had that pile looming over me. When I did get to a repair or two, it was badly done and time-consuming.  I had no peace or satisfaction over my ‘accomplishment’. Now, I take my bag of oddities to the seamstress, hand over a few dollars and come back to pick it up the following day. It’s done fast, right and it leaves me with a feeling of peace.

It’s ok that I can’t sew! Rather than being all over the place mentally -  planning for this, wishing to do that and beating myself up because I can’t get to this or that, I’m going to focus only on my primary two roles of wife and homeschooling mother.  I really want my energy to be channeled into these areas. That means I am not going to lament the fact that I haven’t yet went back to piano lessons as I had planned, learned to sew, started the bible college course I had hoped to do. Right now is not the time for me to learn to sew. I accept and embrace that truth and it brings me peace. 

What do you need to let go of or embrace today?

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Jenn is wife to one, mother of three and above all, a humble servant seeking to honor the Lord with her life. Peace with Myself is a post from Beautiful Calling.

With each decision I make, big or small, I want to remember that His opinion matters; that it is the only opinion that matters! My time, my resources, my all – is given to me as a gift from Him.

I want to please the Lord above all else. But sometimes I forget that. {Gasp!}

It’s easy to fritter my time away, have a bad attitude, indulge in a pity party, be selfish – and the list goes on. None of these are big issues but it’s these little things that cause disquiet in my soul; that put distance between my Savior and I. These little things can easily creep in and steal my peace. 

I want to be at peace with Him always. I want every choice to be intentional and to intentionally choose the right attitude and action. I want to be more sensitive to the Holy Spirit and as He pricks my heart, so that when I fail (for I will!) I can confess immediately and reclaim that peace with Him.

• Choose Peace

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Jenn is wife to one, mother of three and above all, a humble servant seeking to honor the Lord with her life. Peace With God is a post from Beautiful Calling.

With each decision I make, big or small, I want to remember that His opinion matters; that it is the only opinion that matters! My time, my resources, my all – is given to me as a gift from Him.

I want to please the Lord above all else. But sometimes I forget that. {Gasp!}

It’s easy to fritter my time away, have a bad attitude, indulge in a pity party, be selfish – and the list goes on. None of these are big issues but it’s these little things that cause disquiet in my soul; that put distance between my Savior and I. These little things can easily creep in and steal my peace. 

I want to be at peace with Him always. I want every choice to be intentional and to intentionally choose the right attitude and action. I want to be more sensitive to the Holy Spirit and as He pricks my heart, so that when I fail (for I will!) I can confess immediately and reclaim that peace with Him.

• Choose Peace

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Jenn is wife to one, mother of three and above all, a humble servant seeking to honor the Lord with her life. Peace With God is a post from Beautiful Calling.

Chloe and John love their Sarah’s Silks dress up clothing. We had the perfect opportunity this week to wear these lovely creations out of the house legitimately. Saturday was the annual Storybook Breakfast fundraiser and the tots had a wonderful time.

This year the books we received at the breakfast were Olivia Saves the Circus, Dancing Feet and Hippo Goes Bananas. We read the latter this afternoon. What a funny, sweet story presenting a great opportunity to talk about embellishing or exaggerating the truth.

What was the best book you read this week?

• Sarah’s Silks also offers seconds and sales which is how we are adding to our collection.
• This post links up to Small Style

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Jenn is wife to one, mother of three and above all, a humble servant seeking to honor the Lord with her life. Small Style: Sarah’s Silks is a post from Beautiful Calling.

Mommy and Isaac {20+ lbs @ 8 months}

I had the privilege of reviewing a  Boba 2G Organic earlier this year. I loved it and thought it worked wonderfully despite Isaac being so young. But between the hypotonia and neck weakness, last summer I decided to try a wrap for the first time ever. Being so happy with the Boba carrier, naturally I purchased their Sleepy Wrap {now just called Boba Wrap}.

I just want to say that I love it! I love everything about my Sleepy Wrap from the fabric {soft, cuddly, breathable} to the easy-to-follow instructions for wear, to the fit of it. While long-term (all day hike etc.), it doesn’t have the same comfort level as a more structured carrier {since Isaac is over 20 pounds now!}, I comfortably wear him for a few hours at a time and we’re both happy.

I wrap it on me

I pop him in

He snuggles in and is content {easy-peasy}

Sometimes I tuck his head in, cozy and supported, and he dozes off. Other times I  let him peek around or tilt his head up to watch me. He’s at just the right level for me to kiss him constantly and I love to look down on him, nestled in there.

I was always scared of wraps. They didn’t seem secure enough to hold baby and the whole wrapping thing seemed really confusing. Let me assure you that neither is the case and you really have to try one! They’re actually pretty economical too.

Today I snapped this picture of the two of us enjoying each other and wanted to give a big shout-out to Boba and babywearing!

How do you wear your baby?

• My wrap was purchased with my own money. This isn’t a sponsored post.
• I’ve been using and loving this wrap now for 6 months!!
  
• Read the Babywearing reviews I’ve done

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Jenn is wife to one, mother of three and above all, a humble servant seeking to honor the Lord with her life. Babywearing: Sleepy Wrap is a post from Beautiful Calling.

Last month, as I reflected on 2011, mentally reviewed my accomplishments, failures and re-evaluated my priorities and pondered the upcoming year, it was as if the Lord audibly whispered, “choose peace”.

I’ve mulled that over while I washed dishes, folded laundry, and tried to fall asleep at night. How can I choose peace?

My goal for the year is simply this: to evaluate and make each decision based on what brings me peace emotionally and relationally and to do so guilt free. I want to have peace with God, with myself, in my relationships and in my home. 

This year, I’m simply choosing peace.

• I will be sharing more about my goals this month!

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Jenn is wife to one, mother of three and above all, a humble servant seeking to honor the Lord with her life. Choose Peace is a post from Beautiful Calling.

“I think I got the heck of it!” ~ John, on buttoning his pants.

“Because all those people are bad and going to Helloween.” ~ John, on trick-or-treating. {we had a little discussion about this one! LOL}

“My little Coochie” ~ Chloe, who always says this to Isaac.

“Oma doesn’t need the outside of her so she left it here.” ~ Chloe, explaining to John about Grandma in heaven and burying her body.

“Mom, when Isaac grows up, you’ll have three children.”

What do I have now?

“Two children and a baby.”

“Isaac are you being a pain in the neck?” John, to Isaac while he was crying. {no idea where that came from!}

Me: Daddy, if you don’t like your cold, just give it away.

Daddy: I’ll give it to Chloe.

Chloe: Just give it to John.

John: No, it will be too big for me!

Chloe: Why doesn’t nanny granny have pets?

John: She has grrgrandpa.

Chloe: Yes, she likes grr grandpa more than a pet I think.

This morning at breakfast Chloe innocently asks, "Mama, were you here when Jesus came to earth?"
{do I look that rough this morning?!?}

Yesterday I woke John up from his nap prematurely. Very sleepily he says, "Mommy, look what you did to my face."
I asked, "What?" {Thinking I had scratched him or something.}
He says, "You made it sad!

“Mommy, when I grow up I am going to be a teenager and I will know how to obey.” ~John (Lord, please let it be so!)

When I wake up I am going to be so annoying. ~ John

Me: “John, why don’t your shirt on yet?”

John: “No time for that! I recognized to myself that I need a bath first.”

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Jenn is wife to one, mother of three and above all, a humble servant seeking to honor the Lord with her life. Tiny Tidbits Winter 2012 is a post from Beautiful Calling.