Living everyday deliberatly

Since starting this purge of the unnecessary, I have come to realize just how unintentional my everyday is. I may have a 'to do' list sitting on my desk, or a plethora of errands to run, but at the end of each day I fell tired and somewhat unaccomplished. This is something I think about a lot as a stay-at-home mom. What am I doing with my life? What do I accomplish each day? I can clean all day and it is messy again by dinner. The laundry is a never ending battle. But usually I stop and remind myself what an impact I am having on my own children and smile because I am blessed to be able to stay at home and raise them each day.

But I still feel like I don't get much done between 8 am and 10 pm. I end up being wired at night because I have spent my day lollygagging around the house finding little things to do that don't amount to much.

I had a brief conversation with a friend recently about all this, a fellow stay-at-home home schooling mom. She told me about a book, "Shopping For Time", and lent me a her copy. It appealed almost immediately, using shopping as a guide to finding more time. It got down to the nitty gritty quite fast and without a lot of fluff... get up earlier and accomplish more. Not what I wanted to hear! I am not a morning person! Getting up too early makes me sick just like staying up too late. The thought of being up before sunrise gives me the shivers!

I am in a season of change in my life. Not just with recycling or composting, but in so many other things. So I have decided, to make my days intentional! To add to the time I have by getting up by 6 am. To find purpose in each day by asking things like "Did I hug my husband before he left for work?" "Did my kids get a healthy breakfast before we ran out the door or did they eat at all?" Have I spent too much time on facebook?" Have I spent each moment of the day doing something to glorify God? to help others?

Each of the things we have gotten rid of has seemed to touch someone around me. I have a friend that took the challenge to get rid of her microwave, I know others that are recycling more. It is an amazing encouragment to me to hear that others are taking an initiative to live life deliberatly! And, hopefully, by the end of each day I will realize what I have accomplished!

And I will start getting up earlier!! :) 6 am, here I come!