Need some background info on this series? See here and here.
Exodus was the next book after Job in my Chronological Bible. I think this is one of the books I am most familiar with, as so many people know the exodus story and about Moses. According to Crossway, it takes 2 hours and 51 minutes to read the book of Exodus.
Just a reminder, it’s best to let scripture interpret scripture. I like these resources because they help me better understand scripture, but I may not agree with everything they say. As in all things, pray and invite God to help you in your time of reading and studying. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you and use discernment when using resources outside of the Bible itself. “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15 NIV)
Here are some additional resources I recommend looking into after you read Exodus through on your own:
Drop me a comment if you have taken the 2 hours and 51 minutes to read the book of Exodus. Do you know any other great resources for this book? Leave them below!
Need some background info on this series? See here and here.
Job was the next book I read after Genesis in my Chronological Bible. From my understanding, the story takes place during the time of Genesis, so even though traditionally it is the 18th book of the Bible and after Esther, it was helpful to read it in the context of when it happened. According to Crossway, it takes 1 hour and 46 minutes to read Job.
Just a reminder, it’s best to let scripture interpret scripture. I like these resources because they help me better understand scripture, but I may not agree with everything they say. As in all things, pray and invite God to help you in your time of reading and studying. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you and use discernment when using resources outside of the Bible itself. “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15 NIV)
Here are some additional resources I recommend looking into after you read Job through on your own:
I talked a bit about creating a homemaking block in my most recent post here on the blog. While I enjoy cleaning and, even more, a clean home, I can sometimes get in a rut where I’m just tired of cleaning. But as I mentioned here, I need to get out of it if I want to have my home being a sanctuary for my husband and me. So I thought back to when I truly enjoyed cleaning last. And it was a year or two ago when I was following the Fly Lady routine. There are still pieces that I follow to this day, but because I am not doing the whole process, it doesn’t feel the same.
But my problem with the system itself was, it is tough to follow because the details are not in one place. I mean, her website reminds me of the late 90’s/the early 2000s and is full of items to buy from her. Her technique is to get you to sign up for her email, and she sends you what needs to be done throughout the day. For example, I signed up again for her emails to get started and have already received at least eight emails a day. And her site says that she averages ten emails a day. It’s a bit overwhelming. Especially for a planner like me, that would like to plan in advance. I’ve scanned her site, and it’s a bit all over the place to find what you need. So let me try and break down how it works.
Update: This post got long! I was thinking about breaking it up until multiple posts and decided that defeats the purpose of having everything in one place. So while this lengthy post will be published as one, let’s focus on one topic at a time. Join me on my Instagram, where I will post our focus for the day, and let’s talk about it!
FLYing Lessons
The site tells you to start here. FLYing is all about “Finally Loving Yourself,” which she describes as having “peace of mind, pride in your home, and a passion for living.” In the emails I mentioned above, you get what is called Missions for your daily Zone. But wait, before you do that, you focus on what she calls Baby Steps. And the first one is this: Shine Your Sink. Now, this is a practice that I have followed forever. Before I go to bed, I do what I call “Shutting Down the Kitchen,” and that includes making sure the kitchen sink is not only empty, but I scrub it out with a powdered cleaner and dish liquid. This is the same process that Fly Lady calls Shine Your Sink, and she outlines a 12 step process to do it.
Next, she tells you to Get Dressed to Shoes. That means to get dressed for the day, including wearing shoes. And laced up shoes at that. She insists that doing this prevents you from slipping them off and lounging around. I disagree with this. I mean, I understand it’s much harder to take a nap with the sneakers on, but if I am tired, those shoes won’t stop me. I’ll take them off or leave my feet dangling off the couch or bed. And I hate wearing shoes in my house. I have thought about buying a pair just for inside (slippers or slides). I do believe that getting up and getting dressed helps motivate you, though. When I transitioned from working in Corporate to working from home, I went from wearing skirts that I loved most days to wearing 50’s style dresses. I won’t call them house dresses because that reminds me of nightgowns. But something about wearing the dresses gave me pride in what I was doing from home, and that included my cleaning. Now thanks to one too many Krispy Kreme donuts, I can’t fit most of my dresses anymore, but with the seasons changing, I plan on getting back to wearing dresses again. Maybe just a little bit more flowing. But I will miss my basketball shorts and leggings.
Baby Steps
Now we are finally getting to the rest of those Baby Steps she talked about. Fair warning, clicking on that link doesn’t get you to the baby steps without having to click on another link. Which appears to contain the same info from the first link AND the info about Baby Step #1, which was Shining Your Sink all to just, redirect you back to the link I provided you up there. See what I mean about the struggle with finding out the information? And we haven’t even started cleaning anything but the sink. Oh, and you have to click a new link to get to each new Baby Step, but you then have to go back to the first page to get to the next link. But I’m going to help you out by listing the rest below. Now each Baby Step corresponds with a day. So it will take you 31 days to get through all of them. She says this is to help you establish small routines, build consistency, and to take your time enjoying the process.
Put Out A New Dish Towel Each Night – This is something I try to do each night using these towels. I think the actual step for this day is to review the website, but I’m saving you 10 hours.
Create Your Control Journal – She recommends a binder and some paper and to now break Steps 1-7 into a morning and evening routine, with #6 happening in both.
15 Minutes: Pick Up Trash and Rest – Set a timer for 15 minutes, gather all the trash you can, and take it out. Set a time for another 15 minutes and rest.
Delete Her Emails – It’s been less than five days since I signed up, and I have 30 emails from her. If she averages ten a day as she says, you should be deleting 120 emails on Day 12. This is ridiculous. She doesn’t like clutter but is providing digital clutter.
Do The Mission for the Day – Now for some cleaning. Take a break here and jump to the next section on Zones and Missions.
Time for a Calendar – Find a place for a calendar (high traffic area) and get one up. We’ve used this one for a couple of years now.
Back to the Website – She wants you to read what others are saying about the system.
Set a Bedtime and Stick to It – Don’t wait until it’s time for bed to do your evening routine either. Start right after dinner
11 Commandments – But wait…another list. Luckily this one is mostly a repeat of what she has already told you with additions like don’t be distracted, do one thing at a time, and pamper yourself.
No Rushing – This one was hard to figure out as she had another testimonial in there. But don’t rush, slow down and set a time if you need to.
Laundry – Start a load of laundry at night, put it in the dryer when you wake up, fold/hang, and put away as part of your morning routines.
Clean Out One Drawer – So technically, this day was to read more things on her website, but she also said to clean out one drawer for each family member to make it easier to put laundry away.
Office in a Bag – Work on building your control journal and keep everything you need to pay bills, make a grocery list, etc. in one portable place. Just in case you need more to do, here are 15 steps to create your control journal.
Afternoon Routine – Start dinner in the afternoon. Plan your meals a week at a time and get them added to your calendar.
Swish and Swipe – Swish the toilet bowl with the brush and wipe out the sink and clean the countertops with a rag.
More Reading – Read some more of her website, but if you have more than one bathroom, use a different one each time you need to go and do the swish and swipe.
Never Behind – A reminder to start wherever you are, even if you get behind. I also noticed she added lunch and to drink plenty of water to the afternoon routines.
Dinner – Prepare for dinner either the night before or in the morning. Remove anything from the freezer you need, and don’t forget your side dishes.
Take Care of You – Set a timer for 15 minutes and read. Remember to eat good food, drink your water, take breaks, and get some rest.
Weekly Pamper Mission – It looks like the idea for the day was a testimonial from a reader who got a back rub from her hubby after a relaxing bath. Breakfast was added to the morning routine. Water, meds, and vitamins were added to both morning and evening routines.
Important Dates – Look at the calendar for next month and see what important dates need to be planned for. This is also where you learn about your weekly plan, which is more routines. Head to that section below to learn more.
Don’t Worry – Another reminder to not get overwhelmed with all of the things she has you doing.
Zones
Zones are different parts of the house that she assigns you to clean each week. There are five zones, and ideally, you would hit them all in one month. The goal is to spend 15 minutes a day cleaning your zone based on the mission you are given (see next section). Here are the zones and when she says they would be cleaned:
Entrance/Front Porch/Dining Room – the first few days of the month until Sunday
Kitchen – the first full week of the month
Main Bathroom/Extra Room – the second full week of the month
Master Bedroom/Bath/Closet – the third full week of the month
Living Room/Den/TV Room – the last few days of the month, starting on Monday
Missions
Missions are your daily to-dos for the day. Each week she tells you one mission to do each day. It doesn’t appear that this information is laid out in advance anywhere, so you only get one week at a time. Here are last weeks (the current weeks is here), for example:
Monday
Spend 15 minutes getting rid of 27 things from the Main Bathroom. Do the same in the Extra Room.
Tuesday
Shine your tub/shower in the Main Bathroom. Set your timer for 15 minutes and get the guest bed ready for company. Wash the sheets if needed.
Wednesday
Wash your Main Bathroom rugs, shower curtains, and accessories. Dust in the Extra Room, ensuring you get those cobwebs in the corner.
Thursday
Toss old or unused cosmetics, perfumes, and other hygiene products. For the Extra Room, either spend 15 minutes getting rid of 27 more things or sweep/vacuum.
Friday
Clean the counters and sink in the Main Bathroom. Take 15 minutes to relax.
Weekly Plan
Monday’s – Weekly Home Blessing for an hour
This includes tossing old magazines, changing the sheets, emptying the trash, vacuuming, mop kitchen and bathroom, clean mirrors and doors, and dust.
Tuesday’s – Free Day
Water and fertilize plants. Spend 15 minutes in the current Zone
Wednesday’s – Zone Cleaning and Partial Desk Time
Finish zone cleaning and weekly cleaning. Clean the fridge. Write thank-you notes. Work on the menu and grocery list for next week. Balance checkbook.
Thursday’s – Grocery and Errand Day
Make sure your menu is ready for grocery shopping. Confirm the list before you leave. Go grocery shopping and run errands.
Friday’s – Paperwork and Misc.
Date night. Get food from the freezer for next week. File papers. Write letters and cards. Cleanout purse. Mend clothes and polish shoes. Pet care. Clean out car and check fluids. Clean laundry room.
Saturday’s – Family Fun Day
Sunday’s – Renew Your Spirit Day
But Wait There Is More
But I am not about to make this post any longer. I found her detailed before bed routine, morning routines, weekly checklist (not to be confused with the weekly plan), and finally, the detailed cleaning list. The list alone is nine pages long.
Seriously it is almost easier to check her emails every day to figure out what to do. She sends what is called a flight plan that gives you the daily checklist, challenges, and missions.
My house needs a good deep spring cleaning, so I am going to take a look at everything else and determine if all of this information is truly needed. Or maybe I can see if I can figure out a way to simplify this or find simpler systems.
Look forward to more post about cleaning our home as we make this happen. Have you heard about Fly Lady? Tell me what you think below.
*I’ve used my referral link in this post for Grove. This gives you a 5-piece gift set for first-time users.
*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases using the links included in this post.
Failing at Time Management, Routines, and Schedules
I had a much-needed therapy appointment this week. I advocate for therapy on the regular, but in this season, it is needed!
I had a significant life change happen recently, and I’m not adjusting well. And because God knows what I need, my therapist stressed the importance of me creating a schedule, sticking to a routine, and doing something that helps me relax or brings me joy each day.
Then she said something that mimicked the same advice a friend gave me a little while ago.
You don’t have to schedule your routines necessarily but instead, know that you need to get them done and accomplish them when you can.
Why does this simple advice seem so profound to me?
I want to say I was this way before, but when I felt myself losing control, I recognized that I tried to hold onto what I had control of a bit tighter. And that’s when planning stopped being fun for me, and it was a struggle to just get through the day. And in this recent season of my life, my routines have gone away completely.
But now that I’m focusing on making my home a sanctuary, I recognize the need to establish those routines again. Those routines, in turn, improve my time management and productivity. With me starting on my journey to entrepreneurship, I can’t add more to my plate without managing what I currently have on it. Which calls to mind two Bible verses:
‘Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much. So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will trust you with what is genuine? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what is your own? ‘ Luke 16:10-12 CSB
‘He must manage his own household competently and have his children under control with all dignity. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of God’s church?) ‘ 1 Timothy 3:4-5 CSB
I’ve started to take some steps to help me with this and will be looking into doing some things that I know have worked in the past.
I’ve been using technology.
I know you are probably like, didn’t you just get off of a digital detox? Yes, and I still have most of my notifications off in this season. But I’ve been using my Reminders app (on the iPhone). I created many different lists and just started to add things to it that I need to do. And as I think of things, I go and add it to my lists. This helps me eliminate decision fatigue and I never have to spend time worrying about what needs to be done.
To-Do List – Anything that pops into my head that needs to be done. Then I go and schedule when I want it done using my Erin Condren planner or Google Calendar.
Affirmations – If you caught my post about this, you know I had some reservations, but it’s biblical! So I’ve created some. Or when I hear some that I love, I add. I have some set up for me to say daily, weekly, and monthly.
Morning/Afternoon/Evenings Routines – Things I would like to do at that time of day or things I typically forget to do (like taking meds/vitamins).
Weekly/Monthly Routines – These are more house and Bambi girl related. So I know which days to wash my comforter, change out Bambi’s litterbox, or even self-care items like exfoliating or doing a mask based on when I did them last.
Blog/SM Post – A loose schedule of what I would like to post.
Spirituality – Reminders to pray, express gratitude, repent/confess. Reminders of different types of Bible reading I could do if I am in a rut (a Psalm, a chapter in Proverbs, a New Testament read, an Old Testament read, or scripture writing).
Prayer – Requests and topics I want to be sure I am covering each day/week.
Business/Personal Development – Whenever I come across a course or interesting blog/person that I want to look into, they get added here. This mostly comes out of recent summits I have been attending.
Time Blocking
This is something that I need to start doing again. Lately, I have been waking up and just randomly tackling my to-do list around meetings/calls I may have scheduled until it is time to start on dinner. It’s annoying me, not to mention, I am not all that productive. With time blocking, you group like tasks together, so you aren’t having to switch to something completely different and lose your groove. For example, I would have the following blocks:
Homemaking Block – laundry, cleaning, and all things home related
Learning Block – This would be when I want to take courses, do webinars, do research, etc.
Writing Block – This could be journaling or writing for the blog.
Content Creation Block – Creating my social media post or creating printables to help me with my routines
Admin Block – Emails, budget review, and planning.
Obviously, there are other areas that aren’t covered here like my faith life, self-care, cooking, etc. But when I start to test this out, I will make updates as needed. Keep an eye out on my Instagram because that is where I will share day by day things I will be doing and learning.
Where I’m Winning
One thing I can say that I have been doing great at is ending my day. Typically when Chris lets me know he is on his way home, is when I shut it down for the day and switch into wifey mode. I start cooking dinner and try to finish any cleaning that I may have started early in the day. And then, when Chris is home, I focus on spending time with him. This is a direct result of some of the conversations we have been having in our marriage and me wanting to be more present with him.
I feel like relying on my reminders to help me with my routines and time blocking will help me set a baseline so I can start focusing on home as my top priority again. I’m going to give this a try and see how it goes. Let me know in the comments below if you have been able to stick to your routines and schedules. I would love to hear some of your tips.
*I’ve included my Erin Condren referral link in this post. This gives you $10 off your first purchase and I get reward points in return.
Need some background info on this series? See here and here.
Genesis is a massive book with 50 chapters. I knew that I wasn’t reading this one in one sitting, and quite honestly, I knew it would be a struggle with only a couple of sittings. But according to Crossway, it only takes 3 hours and 31 minutes to read. It really put into perspective for me my assumption of time. There were plenty of times where I have sat down and just read a book to look up and realize its hours later. Or how many times have I binged watched a season or series of shows? I could easily decide to turn on my YouVersion app and listen to Genesis while doing something else.
But what I decided to do with this book, is to start reading in my Chronological Bible, and I began to use a highlighting strategy that I adapted from Amy Hale. It’s taken me a tad bit longer than just reading it like normal, but I feel like I am better able to retain more. I’ll do a future post about my highlighting strategy. But for now, here is a sneak peek.
Just a reminder, it’s best to let scripture interpret scripture. I like these resources because they help me better understand scripture, but I may not agree with everything they say. As in all things, pray and invite God to help you in your time of reading and studying. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you and use discernment when using resources outside of the Bible itself. “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15 NIV)
Here are some additional resources I recommend looking into after you read Genesis through on your own:
Drop me a comment if you have taken the 3 hours and 31 minutes to read Genesis. Also, drop how many sittings did it take you below. Do you know any other great resources for this book? Leave them below!
Y’all, it’s been a while since I’ve done a Rhenáe’s Recap, but when I was trying to decide the best way to share the resources that I learn from every week with you, I figured this was it. It will still be a recap of posts from the blog for the week, including any reviews that I’ve done. And I was previously also including resources that I am taking in like books and shows (very heavy on the books). Since I am still taking in both plus doing courses and on the journey to entrepreneurship, I want to document and share what I am taking in each week. Plus, I am seeing that I am using YouTube and Pinterest more and more for my research (including for my Year of Healthy focuses). I have so much commentary on these things that I would love to talk with yall about! So…this is going to be a recap of what I have ingested this past week during my digital detox.
Posts
I kicked off last week, letting you know that I needed a break. I was getting so many notifications and having so many conversations about this darn virus, and for my mental health, I needed to cut it all off. Check out the Rhenáe’s Randoms post that talks all about it. It also has my notes from that Sunday’s sermon from my church.
To further prove my point that I needed to step away, I looked at my Screen Time stats on my phone, and for 3/29-4/5, here is what my top 4 notifications look like: Gmail – 708, Instagram – 304, GroupMe – 206, Messages – 166.
For the week of my break 4/6-4/11: Gmail – 600, GroupMe – 270, Instagram – 218, News App – 98.
Today is the last day of my break, and I will NOT be catching up on those notifications. And I will be turning some of them off, as well as going back to using my downtime throughout the day.
I wrote Part 2 of my Hope Writers recap last week. I am still looking at ways to bring the suggestions given into my writing here on the blog and into future endeavors. Make sure you read Part 1 also.
The book of 2nd Thessalonians was last week’s feature in the All 66 Books series. Check that post out to see all of the different resources that I found that you can use after you read the quick book from Paul in the New Testament. Both of the letters to the Thessalonians have been blessing me for the past couple of weeks. If you haven’t taken the time to read them, I highly suggest it. It will take you less than 20 minutes to get through both.
Books
This week I decided to reorganize my bookshelves. I actually was trying to put up different piles that I had laying around. I got it in my head that for my detox, I would try and finish up all the books that I’ve started. Well, that didn’t work because when I pulled all of the physical books that I have begun at one point in time, I realized it was 28. I am not even going to try this task with my ebooks because I took a look, and between Kindle and Apple Books, I have almost 5,000 books. And since I tend to move on from those books quickly based on my mood (I don’t feel like reading a 300+ page book today, I hate the tone of the first page, I’m tired of the main character getting cheated on), I know I have started probably over half of those. I decided that I am going to try and tackle the 28 books this year, so they are currently sitting on my desk with my current one on my nightstand.
If you have read my marriage post, you will know that Kingdom Marriage by Tony Evans is my current read. I was reading this kind of slow (a chapter a day), but then I honestly haven’t picked it up in a bit. We are still
doing the accompanying devotional, which has been doing wonders for our communication and prayer life. I am going back to this book and making it a goal to finish before the end of the week. I only have six chapters left so I can do this.
YouTube
This week on YouTube was a bit of research on my Year of Healthy April post, which comes out tomorrow. So I will talk about those videos I liked later. But some videos randomly caught my attention that I want to share with you.
I love Stove Top Kisses and her videos. She is just so funny, southern to the core, and does some real soulful cooking. If you know me, you know that Hennessey is my jam, so I cannot wait to try and make this baby!
Okay, so the title of this one pulled me in because I was like what?!?!?! $3,700! Well, she lives in a tiny town in NY where her closest big box store is about 1 1/2 hours away. So to prep for winter, she tends to do one big grocery haul for the year. She hit up Walmart, Sam’s Club, Costco, Trader Joe’s, BJ’s, and another grocery store I wasn’t familiar with. But she got some fantastic deals on meat that she was able to stock up on. And here is the thing…she has a reasonable household budget! $40 a week per person. She has six people in her family. She then takes the yearly amount ($12,480), and that starts her budget for these trips. So when you look at that amount compared to the $3,700 she spent, it’s not that bad. She even mentioned she had some money leftover from last year’s budget and was able to carry it over to this year’s budget! I am definitely taking notes while I work on building my kitchen staples.
Other Resources
While this resource was from the week before, I think it is still a great one to share. Essence Studios hosted a Virtual Summit called Essence Wellness House with over a dozen sessions from Faith Hunter, Dr. Patrice A. Harris, Sarah Jakes Roberts, Dr. Sherry Blake, Rosalynn Daniels, Gina Neely, Iyanla Vanzant, Brukwine, Dr. Lauren Powell, Rev. Michael B. Beckwith, Tiffany “The Budgetnista” Aliche, LeVar Burton, Charlamagne The God, Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, and ShaNay Norvell. I watched most of the sessions, and they are definitely filled with nuggets to help us during this COVID-19 season.
Here are some other summits from Dr. Shannon Irvine that I watched this week that were available (and should still be available).
RISE Together: Top Industry Leaders Speak Out – features panelists: Pat Flynn, Jennifer Allwood, Michelle Meyers, Ray Edwards, Rachel McMichael, Sara Anna Powers, Brian Dixon, Erin Sanderson, and Christina Jandali
I plan on rewatching these as they were lives that I had playing in the background while doing other work. I want to be able to take notes as well as look into some of the panelists to learn what I can from them. This rabbit hole is usually how I find out about other entrepreneurs and their resources.
I’ll be honest and say that I still feel a bit all over the place when it comes to what I am taking in for my entrepreneurship journey. I need to come up with a better plan and system. That will be my overall goal for this week: for me to work on some type of resource action plan. I did have a need early last week to better document somethings daily. I felt like my planner wasn’t giving me all that I needed, so I worked on creating a planner page that I can just tip into my planner (or most likely my notebook) to help me track these items. I want to try it out for another week or two to see if I need to make any tweaks.
I hope that you can get something out of all that I included in the recap this week. I look forward to doing these recaps each weekend. Leave me a comment down below and let me know what your favorite resource was.
If you read last month’s post, you saw that I struggled to choose between two topics: marriage and the Word of God. I decided to do both. Well, I think focusing on both of those things allowed me to naturally lead into what I chose as my topic for April: Home.
I know what you are thinking, “Tanisha…we are all trapped at home, so that’s an easy one.” Well, first off, you aren’t trapped at home. You are safe at home. Home should be a sanctuary for you. More on that later.
Second off, I am a hardcore homebody. I’ve always been a homebody, but in 2017/2018, I forced myself to go out and be more extraverted and do more things, and I promise you I am still recovering from that. 😂
So when I returned home from my sabbatical, I struggled to leave the house even for the simplest of tasks. I ordered my groceries online. Amazon became my BFF again. My hubby made sure I had gas in the car.
And it wasn’t until my therapist told me I need to get outside the house more that I became intentional about going to the store more frequently or helping friends with their dog a few times a week. But my preference was still being home. It also helps that I am a housewife. I have heard from a few other homebodies who are saying now that we aren’t able to go anywhere even if we wanted to, they realized that they aren’t much of a homebody. That is not me at all. Yes, I would like to go to the grocery store when I want, but not much has changed for me. (I recognize the blessing in this)
But what I noticed is that now that we are forced to stay at home, a lot of people are having a hard time just being in their homes. It’s almost like they don’t really like their home much. And that breaks my heart.
So it made me think, how can I help people see that they should love their home more? What is it about our homes that make us want to be elsewhere? Our responsibilities? Chores? Our housemates?
When I made the transition to housewife, I struggled with the idea that I now had increased responsibility at the house even though I wasn’t the only one living there.
My mindset didn’t change until an older friend shared with me that when she is doing tasks around the house, she prays while doing them and is grateful for having them to do. While she is doing laundry, she is thanking God for clothes her family wears. While washing dishes, she thanks God for the food that they get to eat.
Honestly, it made me feel ungrateful. The same things I complained about were things that I prayed for at one point in time. I made the switch to being grateful for all that I had, but since I’ve been back from my sabbatical, I’ve been slacking a little bit.
So last month, when focusing on the Word of God and my marriage, it naturally led me to wonder, what could I do to show my gratefulness and thanksgiving to God better? What could I do to show my husband that I love and appreciate him, mainly because he is the one in our family that goes out every day and works? And it all comes back to making my home the sanctuary I knew it could be. Which automatically makes me think of my favorite verse in Titus.
‘the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things— that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.’ Titus 2:3-5 NKJV
I love the NKJV version of this verse because it explicitly says homemakers. Other translations say workers at home, keep a good house, makers of a home [where God is honored], keepers at home, work in their homes, taking care of their household, busy at home, and working at home. But I’ve also come across another verse recently that has helped me as well.
‘But we encourage you, brothers and sisters, to do this even more, to seek to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, so that you may behave properly in the presence of outsiders and not be dependent on anyone. ‘ 1 Thessalonians 4:10b-12 CSB
So for April, I am going to do my part to be thankful and fall in love with my home again. I’m going to make sure that it is a place that my husband can be proud to come to. And to focus on removing a lot of the noise that surrounds our lives and to lead a simpler and quiet life. If you know me or followed my social media for a while, you may know that I love routines, cleaning, and organization. I will be showcasing how I use all three of those to achieve my goal for this month. But because I am a researcher at heart and love seeing how other people do things, I will be checking out and trying different methods. I hope that you join me this month in curating your home and setting the atmosphere that you want. Leave me a comment down below what you love most about your home.
Need some background info on this series? See here and here.
Here is another one of Paul’s letters to the early Church. According to Crossway, it takes 7 minutes to read through 2nd Thessalonians.
Just a reminder, it’s best to let scripture interpret scripture. I like these resources because they help me better understand scripture, but I may not agree with everything they say. As in all things, pray and invite God to help you in your time of reading and studying. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you and use discernment when using resources outside of the Bible itself. “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15 NIV)
Here are some additional resources I recommend looking into after you read 2nd Thessalonians through on your own:
Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of signing up for 15 Tuesday Teaching’s from Hope*Writers, and last week, I shared the first half of the teachers. I included what stuck out to me the most and what I plan on using to create action steps and execute here on the blog and in future endeavors. Here is the rest of the teachers and what I was able to learn from them.
Erin Loechner was another author that I was not familiar with before I started to watch these teachings. Emily noted that her blog was a great example of voice. What I think most will find fascinating about Erin is her current schedule. She gets up every morning at 2 am (she goes to bed at 6 pm) and writes. This is what works best for her and her husband during this season with small children. What I love about this is, it isn’t traditional. She isn’t trying to force her family to fit into “normal,” and they created their standard. Also, only 2-3% of what she writes actually gets published (on her blog or in her book).
Regular advice that you receive is to write what you know. But once I started writing what I wanted to know, I started to uncover my voice.
Writing vs. publishing requires a different person. Writing is filling, theraputic, quiet. Publishing is emptying and promotional.
Another newbie to me, Jennifer Allwood, seems to be owning her Facebook platform. She helped me understand how
important it is to understand who your ideal client is. She advocates for having what she calls a business therapist. And she is very vocal about realizing that you can’t and shouldn’t do it all and to not be afraid to hire help. And that is in your business and your home. I enjoyed how she broke down her justification for hiring a housekeeper. She paid $150 for 6 hours and was able to work on something that earned her $100-200 an hour. For her, paying the $150 for 6 hours was worth it when she made $600-$1200 in that same 6 hours.
Just by being fully me all the time, I never have to worry about pretense.
We have a responsibility to a calling and fear does not release us from that calling.
Deidra Riggs was someone else that I was not familiar with before this week, but what I enjoyed the most was her openness about her struggles with her last book. She speaks about the business side and, unfortunately, the politics behind selling a book. A well-known author endorsed her book, and there were plans to put that endorsement on the front cover. Until that well-known author came out that she was divorcing her husband and marrying a woman. Her publishers, recognizing that vendors wouldn’t carry the book with the endorsement, removed it. That didn’t sit well with Deidra and has impacted sales and promotion.
Her agent advised her that a book multiples the ministry of your message.
Was this the moment for it? Maybe not. Maybe it’s moment has yet to come. (In regards to her second book and her disappointments with it)
Believe in your heart who you are. And then be who you say you are.
My favorite quote from all 15 teachings: But I’m also an introvert so I don’t try very hard.
I know I keep repeating this (and probably will one more time), but I wasn’t aware of who Crystal Paine was before the day I watched her teaching. But she gave some really good insight on blogging since that is her primary platform. I am looking forward to incorporating some of her points into the blog here.
You want to solve a problem, meet a need or provide hope. But try to do all three.
Focus on and finish one thing at a time. Test it out for about three months.
People want to connect with a person not a platform.
Study others who are doing it well.
Now, Sally Clarkson, I am familiar with. Not only is she the author of dozens of books, but she is the mother of Sarah Clarkson, who is also a writer. She spoke a lot about the changes in her message and publishing over the years. She focuses on adapting to her audience and not being afraid to bring in a new audience and ways to connect with them (for example, Millenials).
Really good writing comes out of our own heart conviction.
If people took their eyes off of other people, they would have more authentic voices.
You can’t face your reader and critic at the same time. To speak to one is to turn your back on the other one.
Don’t dispise the days of small things. (an adaption of Zachariah 4:10)
This author, S.D. Smith, I couldn’t connect with at all. It appears he may be the author of children or teen fiction. And while I may not be his target audience, I was hoping that I could get something out of his teaching. But unfortunately, I didn’t get anything from it but maybe one sentence. He seemed to be all over the place with his message and talked a lot about who he was and specifics about his books.
When you look for light, darkness will be there. You are going to have to fight.
Another blogger turned author who I was introduced to, Kendra Adachi spoke a lot about the mistakes that she made along the way. She also touched on somethings that she did right that was pure blessings. She gave pointers like always including an email sign up even when your website is still “coming soon.” I also loved the landing page for her website, where it lists all the different ways to connect with what she offers without you having to hunt for it.
Don’t be afraid to pivot.
Don’t let your inability to explain where you’ve been suck or what you are doing, keep you from moving forward.
The last and final teacher is probably the best known. Beth Moore is the author of so many books and Bible studies, including a few that sit on my bookshelves. The best part of this whole interview was the fact that Beth Moore didn’t know she was on camera until maybe the last 5 minutes of a hour-long teaching. She assumed that only Emily could see her. I don’t recall ever hearing Beth Moore teach before, but she is so comical and felt so down to earth. She is a daily journaler (which she calls her private relationship with Christ), who has her own journals coiled with the paper she likes at her local supply store. She is also an avid tweeter and broke down when she knows something is a tweet, blog post, teaching, or a book/bible study.
I belong to Jesus. Everything else, I don’t need to understand.
The best writing is understanding we are traveling. Write from where we are now, as we are becoming.
If it is a short term passion, it is probably a tweet (if words only) or a facebook post. If it goes away, that is it. But if it keeps buring, write a blog. If it stays, speak on it. If still burining, it will be a book or Bible study.
Ask God to manipulate my desires. Take my heart and take over my passions.
It all gets said to God but not always written or spoken.
I don’t know a lot but I want to share with someone else what I do know and what I have learned in case it is a help to them.
The kitchen is hot. If you can’t take the heat, this ain’t the kitchen you want.
You gon’ on ahead. I’m not going there with you. But I’ll be here when you get back.
When dealing with extreme pain: when you are still hemoraging is a great time for journaling. It is not the time for publishing.
The midpoint of our pain is a beautiful place to write.
If you can’t tell, I thoroughly enjoyed the 15 teachings that Hope*Writers gave away for free during this time of social distancing while dealing with the coronavirus. I can’t wait to start implementing what I learned! I thought long and hard about possibly joining their membership, but while I enjoyed the teachings and saw the value, I’m not sure if I am that serious enough of a writer at the moment to justify the cost. I would love it if they had an option to get access to the 80+ teachings they currently have in their library. Leave me a comment down below on what your favorite quote was from the teachings I shared today or let me know if you are a member of Hope*Writers.
I made a post yesterday to show my highlighting from my reading of 1st Corinthians and mentioned that I think I need a digital detox. And I decided today to take that digital detox. I wanted to write a bit about why I came to that decision just in case you have been feeling the way I have.
As most of the world knows, we are currently in the middle (maybe?) of the COVID-19 pandemic. With that comes the following:
constant news updates (almost every half hour)
its the topic of EVERY conversation
every part of life seems to be impacted
negative feelings and emotions about what we are doing/not doing with this time
Can I just say I am over it all? This virus is serious yet instead of focusing on praying for the sick, the family of those that have passed away, or those impacted, I am just complaining (and hearing complaints). As a Christian, my fear should not be in what’s happening around me. My faith should be shining through in moments like this. People should be able to turn to the body of Christ for light. (I know there has been a thing recently about not telling people how they should feel and what they should be doing. While I agree with that for most things, I do know that the Bible tells us to do the beforementioned in times like this, so I won’t stop saying those things. Even if our flesh isn’t allowing us to do it at the moment.)
So after a particularly moody week, I decided just to pull back from what is causing me so much angst and turn towards what will have me keeping my eyes focused on Jesus (Hebrews 12v.2). Here is what I will personally be doing this week.
unplugging from ALL social media (I will be deleting the apps to remove temptation)
disabling all notifications for news apps or any other apps that are delivering COVID updates
not reading or responding to messages, calls or emails unless they are emergencies (emergency means an illness, death or prayer request for everyone else besides my husband)
spend more time reading and studying my Bible
journaling to God
praying more
writing (I’ve learned that the more I am focused on God, the more my creative juices flow)
reading and learning (my leisure activities)
spend as much time outside as possible
I hope that you are able to unplug for a bit this week in whatever way that looks like for you!
Update:
I typed the above part of this post this morning before I watched our church service. (Don’t judge me.) And I just want to point out how good God is and how I love that He will confirm and affirm for us when we are doing something right. Today’s message was obviously about Palm Sunday and Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem in John 12. But that triumphal entry would not have been possible without the triumphal tragedy that happened with Lazarus’ death in John 11. Pastor Tim made comparisons between that time and what is happening now.
He gave two paradoxical statements:
John 11v.5,6 “Jesus loved…He stayed”
John 11v.14,15 “Lazarus is dead…I am glad”
Here are some points from the message that spoke to me.
John 12v.16 Sometimes when you are going through things, you won’t understand until after it is over.
John 11 – The triumphal entry of chapter 12 starts here with Lazarus’ death
v.4 – This sickness with not end in death.
v. 5 – Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus
v. 6 – because of that love; so/therefore He stayed for two more days (He doesn’t always answer our prayers in the way we want because He has something greater in store for us. Ephesians 3:20)
v. 14 Lazarus is dead (remember v.4 tells us this will not end in death, not that he won’t go through death)
v. 15 I am glad…so that you may believe. (There is purpose.)
v. 35 Jesus wept. (Jesus had feelings and expressed them. But He was still glad. We need to learn to navigate faith in feelings)
v. 45 Therefore, many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what he did believed in him.
John 12
v. 9 Then a large crowd of the Jews learned he was there. They came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, the one he had raised from the dead. (the same group from chapter 11)
v. 12 The next day, when the large crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they took palm branches and went out to meet him. They kept shouting: “Hosanna!Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord— the King of Israel!” (this would not have been possible if the tradegy in chapter 11 didn’t happen)
v. 27 Jesus again expresses His feelings for a situation that must happen.
Philippians 1 (Paul tells us about his time in prison)
v. 12 – what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel
v. 14 because of my chains
2nd Corinthians 12 (Paul speaks about his unanswered prayer)
v. 7 I was given a thorn in my flesh
v. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me (another prayer not answered it seems)
v. 9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (the reason the prayer is not answered. God’s glory!)
Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities (NKJV) (Paul’s response)
v. 10 I take pleasure in my infirmities (Paul is choosing to take pleasure)
Y’all God is so good. Even through everything that is going on right now. God will use all of this for His glory. Continue to lean into God during this time. “Give, and it will be given to you; a good measure – pressed down, shaken together, and running over – will be poured into your lap.” – Luke 6v.26 Here is a verse that is bringing me comfort right now:
His voice shook the earth at that time, but now he has promised, Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens. This expression, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of what can be shaken — that is, created things — so that what is not shaken might remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful. By it, we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. – Hebrews 12:26-29 CSB
The site tells you to start 
Next, she tells you to 
I know you are probably like, didn’t you just get off of a 
I kicked off last week, letting you know that I needed a break. I was getting so many notifications and having so many conversations about this darn virus, and for my mental health, I needed to cut it all off. Check out the 
If you have read my 
So when I returned home from my sabbatical, I struggled to leave the house even for the simplest of tasks. I ordered my groceries online. Amazon became my BFF again. My hubby made sure I had gas in the car.
So it made me think, how can I help people see that they should love their home more? What is it about our homes that make us want to be elsewhere? Our responsibilities? Chores? Our housemates?
Deidra Riggs was someone else that I was not familiar with before this week, but what I enjoyed the most was her openness about her struggles with her last book. She speaks about the business side and, unfortunately, the politics behind selling a book. A well-known author endorsed her book, and there were plans to put that endorsement on the front cover. Until that well-known author came out that she was divorcing her husband and marrying a woman. Her publishers, recognizing that vendors wouldn’t carry the book with the endorsement, removed it. That didn’t sit well with Deidra and has impacted sales and promotion.
Another blogger turned author who I was introduced to, Kendra Adachi spoke a lot about the mistakes that she made along the way. She also touched on somethings that she did right that was pure blessings. She gave pointers like always including an email sign up even when your website is still “coming soon.” I also loved the landing page for her website, where it lists all the different ways to connect with what she offers without you having to hunt for it.
The last and final teacher is probably the best known. Beth Moore is the author of so many books and Bible studies, including a few that sit on my bookshelves. The best part of this whole interview was the fact that Beth Moore didn’t know she was on camera until maybe the last 5 minutes of a hour-long teaching. She assumed that only Emily could see her. I don’t recall ever hearing Beth Moore teach before, but she is so comical and felt so down to earth. She is a daily journaler (which she calls her private relationship with Christ), who has her own journals coiled with the paper she likes at her local supply store. She is also an avid tweeter and broke down when she knows something is a tweet, blog post, teaching, or a book/bible study.
