This process keeps me focused on what needs to get done. My weekly review helps me see the white space areas of my week. (Or of lack space.) I am able to make margin or say no to things that are crowding me in. Q: How do I organize my week so that it…
All the household things do not come to a halt just because I have decided to rest. I still have to feed my family (or someone does anyway). And unfortunately, the house does not get magically cleaned by forest creatures. It seems counterintuitive to have to prepare for rest. But, Sabbath prep is NOT about…
Life in the past few months has been exceptionally hard. This season that I am in right now is full of days where I wake up and just focus on the next few hours. In my house there are interrupted schedules, strong emotions, and lots of family. I am not ready to write about my…
What can I do today that will help me tomorrow? How can we be kind to the future version of ourselves who is tired and worn out? How can we do the thinking right now so that we do not have to do that later? The difficult part of tasks is often the thinking and…
I love the beginnings of the New Year. I enjoy the fresh calendars, the new planners, the clean crisp notebooks, and the restructuring of my routines. I enjoy having some time for reflection and goal setting. In my time spent planning my next year, I have been thinking about 4 major topics. Ways to find…
We all come from generations of people who worked hard and then had lots of interests so that they could live abundant lives. They did not wait until they had all the knowledge or watch all the YouTube videos. They just tried stuff. When I think about all that my grandparents were able to do…
Why would we spend money, time, energy, and resources on going to new places with our families? Traveling anywhere is a lot of work. Is it worth it? These were the questions I asked for a long time. Travel with small kids felt heavy and difficult. I did not see the value of traveling anywhere.…
I read through these books looking for inspiration for my fall semester and the start of the school year. I hoped to find some reasons why I do this difficult work. Some motivation to continue on with fortitude and grit. So much of my work is invisible and long-term. It can be hard to see…
Travel with small kids is a lot of work. There is so much to think about it can be overwhelming. Running into travel delays, the unknowns, and bad weather was just inconvenient when I was in my 20’s without kids. But with kids along, it can be enough to ruin the trip. When my kids…
Parenting is hard. The learning curve of new parenting skills is always moving forward. There is an exhaustion that sets in from constantly thinking about small things, worrying about big things, and making decisions about what your children need. Each phase is radically different than before. Every few months there is a new skill to…
Photos are either taken by Mary Edwards or April Edwards.
Most are uploaded from the awesome site Unsplash.com.