Too Much Of A Good Thing Is Still TOO MUCH!

I have so many things I want to blog about right now. We took off on a last minute trip to the Dennis the Menace Park in Monterey with friends on Saturday. I have pics from that to share soon.

I still have not shared my favorite reel from the Washington trip, the Rainforest's pics. Those were so beautiful. I'm wanting to get that up.

More goings on with school and how the kids are doing....want to blog on that.

Encouragement from the Lord after some real emotional downers the past two weeks about my new life as a homeschool drop out. The Lord used some wonderful women to lift my heart and remember my calling. He is good! I needed the big hug from Him, and I think He new it. I love my Savior so, and He is so patient with me when I'm in the slumps.



However...with all this rollin around in my noggin, I've one on the forefront today that I want to quickly share. It's where I am today.

I'm having to remember the painful lesson the simplicity is always the happy road in life. Don't do to much, collect too much, eat too much, sleep too much, drink too much, play too much, work too much, stress too much....it goes on and on.

I've been neglecting cleaning for weeks now. Today I started digging in knowing that I've been running away from my house for a while which only makes me too tired to deal with it when I get home, which only makes it worse, which only makes me want to run from it more.....are you starting to catch my train here?

I don't have a lot of time, because I don't want to BLOG TOO MUCH! Yet, this little bit in the Focus On The Family magazine inspired me today. Hope it does the same for you.



"Busy, Busy, Busy," by Valorie Burton (an excerpt)

-Taming my schedule:

One morning several years ago, I recall thinking about how to get unstuck from my rut. My life was overloaded, yet there was always something more to do. I wanted a bit of divine inspiration to help me.

I prayed, then listened for God to say something like, "Valorie, don't worry. you're doing all the right things. Just be patient. Less stressful days are ahead." Confident that I was indeed doing "all the right things," what other message could there possible be for me? I listened for an answer, and the one I got was not what I wanted to hear. One simple word kept coming to me: discipline. Admittedly, my schedule was unruly. I managed to get a lot done, but with very little structure in my life, I was feeling scattered and ineffective. While I was not excited about embracing more discipline, I knew I needed a change. The key to discipline was aligning my daily actions with my priorities.

Ten Commandments for Beating Busyness:

Thou shalt...

1. Connect heart to heart with your family each week. (I'm thinkin' each day!?)

2. Let the Holy Spirit lead you (that means pray and ....Listen Alicia!)

3. Be fruitful and productive, not busy.

4. Take rest seriously.

5. Use all your vacation time every year.

6. Commit your time off solely to non work activities. (don't do the work vacations often)

7. Have fun at least once a week.

8. Eat regularly, preferably sitting down.

9. Exercise regularly. (...how did that get in there!!!???)

10. Use technology to gain time, not consume it. (AHHHH that's a deep cut!)



This reminded me of something the Lord has been trying to grain into me. You need to be diligent in your every day stuff....so you can stop and smell the roses. When I add too much unnecessary good stuff, I get bogged down and can't do the stuff I really need to, then I can't stop to enjoy what I've worked to create.....beauty. The beauty of simplicity.



So, I'll get back to my kitchen now!:)