I feel like a broken record right now in my life. I keep saying the same things over and over again. 2017 has been rough so far. Oh, there have been plenty of good times, but in my mind, the struggles seem to be coming at me faster and harder. I have a dear friend who told me that 2016 felt this way for her. She said that her prayer was for comfort and grace to get through the season of life that she was in. She said that things didn't get easier, but after a period of time, she finally was able to feel peace. Truly, that is what I am hoping for at this point. I don't know why we are going through this season of life, but I am hanging on to the trust that God has a purpose and a plan for it all.
With Lent approaching, I feel that it is a perfect time to work on adding some things to my life to make things easier and hopefully better. Jim and I are committed to having a devotional time together each day. It won't be easy because there are days that he works early, but I feel that this is important for us. We will be starting our morning with some words of wisdom from the Bible. I am also planning on going to the Bible study that my church has now that Delainey doesn't have practice on Thursdays any more. I have a few more things that I plan on doing, but I don't have those details worked out yet. I miss my quiet time with the Word, so that is getting worked back into my life!
Another thing that I plan on doing during Lent is to once again give up Coke. Not just Coke this time, but all pop. I have several friends who don't drink pop any more and I want to be one of them. There is nothing remotely valuable about pop. Empty calories and chemicals that I don't need in my body need to be gone. I struggle to drink enough water, which is what my body really needs. I am not giving up coffee (of course, I still haven't replaced the coffee pot that died last week yet), but I don't drink coffee all day long, just in the morning while getting ready for work.
There are also a few other things that I intend on restarting. I used to be really good about meal planning and making sure that I had all the groceries that I need on hand. I haven't meal planned in a while. I have been flying by the seat of my pants and that just wears me out. You can only have mac and cheese so many nights in a row! I have also really slacked on things like making my bed in the morning. It's a little thing, but I feel like I have accomplished something if my bed is made each day! The last big thing thing that I need to do is get back on board with my Saturday morning bill paying and budgeting. I have gotten out of the habit of doing this on Saturday mornings. I am not sure why, but that needs to happen again, especially since I am the bill payer for Jim's parents as well.
These are the big things that I have planned. I have some other things planned as well that fall into the category of self-care. Date nights with Jim, time with Delainey, a trip with the girls are all on my planner. I am also getting back to some things that I did in the past that I have stopped doing...learning and using more essential oils, scrapping, walking and hiking, and writing. Sleep needs to be a priority for me as well. I will have a bedtime, and I will go to bed on time. Seriously!
I don't think that doing any of this will change the struggles that we will continue to have, but I am hoping that it will change my mindset about it all. I can't continue to sweat the small stuff. I need to control my actions and reactions, and learn to accept what I can't control. I need to lean on my friends, my family, and most of all on God to get me through this season of life. I don't know why the struggles are happening, but He does, and I know that He has me covered through it all. If I start acting like I have forgotten this, please remind me!
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