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…
I’ve been nudged by my inner voice to have time away from my phone for years. But I’ve always brushed it off as being too extreme or too legalistic. Then I made the decision in the summer of 2020 to put my phone away each night. So, I took the leap and tried it. It’s unbelievable…
What is restful to one person might be stressful and overwhelming to another. A calm and smooth transition to one person might seem abrupt and difficult for someone else. We all slow down in different ways and at different speeds. We can be kind and gracious to each other with understanding. The way that each…
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…
As an overachiever, I can be my own enemy. My own critic who raises expectations. I constantly move the finish line after I accomplish a goal or a difficult milestone. I do not stop and enjoy the achievement. I tell myself that I will. I say to myself in the hard moments when I have…
When a house plant is dying it often needs a new location and a different watering schedule. Our Rituals, Routines, and Rhythms in our homes are the same way. Sometimes we just need a change to spark new growth. We get stuck in what used to work and we forget that we need to make…
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…
How changing my habits with the dirty dishes and my cluttered kitchen counters rippled into my creativity. My Story – My dad was a professional chef and when I was little I was taught all about kitchen efficiency. I learned about cooking tools, ways to prep your station, how to chop fruits and vegetables, and how to batch together tasks…
Managing myself is hard. I have to constantly assess what is most important and then spend time on those things. I must be diligent about how I invest my energy or it will be wasted on the unnecessarily urgent, the things that matter to other people, and the tasks that are fun. I have been…
Photos are either taken by Mary Edwards or April Edwards.
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