Simplifying Spaces — the blog

We've always been a little scattered and disorganized in our morning God-space, obviously complicating the whole process and making it entirely too difficult to stay. on. task. This year, we have a plan! I'm sharing just a few tips and resources that I know will simplify our God-space and deepen our time with Him each day... read on to hear more, and stick around to the end, because I've got a little announcement to make!

1. Find a Gospel-centered devotional

I'm one day in, so I can't say a whole lot about this devotional I'm reading this year... I can say that, historically, I have not been successful at staying on task with devotionals, and essentially gave up trying years ago... until Chris, Jane, Jessica, Isabel, and more, and more, and more friends just kept talking about this one. I stole Chris's copy and the inside cover did it for me... I'm in!

"Mornings can be tough. Sometimes, a hearty breakfast and strong cup of coffee just aren't enough.....Paul David Tripp wants to energize you with the most potent encouragement imaginable: the gospel. Forget "behavior modification" or feel-good aphorisms.....what we really need is an encounter with the living God...." -New Morning Mercies

Y'all, I'm determined to finish this, and I'm excited about it! Click the cover below to take a look!

2. Find a Gospel-centered children's Bible

Devotionals and books about the Bible are AWESOME, but don't let those resources take priority over His actual Word: the Bible. I'm still reading through the Gospel of John, but another way I'll be digging into His word is through a solid, Gospel-centered children's Bible. Specifically, we'll be reading The Beginner's Gospel Story Bible. There is so much I love about this Bible. It's laid out in 52 stories that point straight to the Gospel, with a discussion question, and short explanation for each story. The stories are perfectly worded for young listeners, and SO adorably illustrated! AND since the scripture references are included, you can read the Word right along with your toddlers and preschoolers. We’ll be reading one story a week, and I am really looking forward to the learning that will happen throughout the days of each week as we repeat and dive into the same stories in the BIG Bible and this children’s Bible. Check it out!

More Gospel centered children's Bibles and other resources:

The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name
The Gospel Story Bible: Discovering Jesus in the Old and New Testaments
The Biggest Story ABC (this is a board book for 1-3 year olds!)

3. Find a Gospel-Centered Bible reading plan for your young readers

True... We don't have young readers... but we DO have two of these on our book shelf waiting for two young readers to fill their pages with notes and questions!

What I love so much about this book is that it actually teaches kids from a very young age how to read the Bible, and takes them on an exploration from Genesis to Revelation. It's a simple guided tour through Scripture, with daily reading prompts, thought-provoking questions, and space for writing each day. And on Sunday, there's space for kids to take sermon notes! Which I think is awesome! Anyway... I'm excited for my kids to put this book to use in the future, but it's so good I had to go ahead and share with y'all now!

Last but not least: Plan ahead and stay on task!

...and now that announcement. One last resource we'll be using to simplify and stay on task in our God-space this year:

This is a faith planner and journal for moms that has everything you'll need to stay accountable and on task as you and your children focus your hearts on GROWTH this year! Much, much more to come, I just could not hold this in for one more second! This is a project I have prayed over, created, recreated, scrapped all-together and picked back up because I just believe in it SO much. It has been in the works for over a year now, and I am so excited to be so close to having this project in my hands and available to moms like me, who need a little help staying on task. I could go on for days, y'all. And I will, trust me... I am just SO thrilled to be sharing this with you now, and can't wait to show you bits and pieces of it as it comes more and more together! Just this little blurb for now, but don't worry, I'll be updating every step, and when it's finally available for preorder, we'll go ahead and have a BIG party!

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I like the idea of a New Year's Resolution...

I really do. I've made them in past years, the whole "new year, new you" thing appeals to me because, let's be honest, I'm a mess. Sometimes it even starts to sound a little like faith, right? Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what lies ahead (Phil 3:13)... the old is gone, the new has come (2 Cor 5:17). And I mean, I like those verses, but... something feels... off. As much as I like the idea of making a New Years resolution... ehh... I just can't this year.

I cannot bring myself to do it.

And here's the best explanation I've come up with:

I know that I'm going to fail.

...and quickly, too. Probably within the first couple of weeks.

Some of that has to do with me being the real-life Halfway Herbert... but a lot of it has to do with the mess my head-space is these days.

Oh, but not just my head-space.
There's also my living space, my marriage space, parenting space, God space, and most other spaces I occupy on a daily basis.

Sheesh... it's just messy, y'all.

I mean check out my "work space" up there... the shark is eating the mermaid, which is cool I guess, but... there are about twenty pillows involved and that's where I'm supposed to sit, so...

I want you to understand what's happening: these very words you're reading right now... I'm typing them while sitting on a shark that is eating a mermaid. Also, here's our Christmas card in case you didn't get one (fyi, nobody got one. because these are gingerbread people.)

So, you see, there's just too much mess in all my spaces to add a super important goal that I know I'll fail within a matter of days, thus piling "failure" on top of all. this. mess.

And that's why I will not make a New Year's Resolution in 2018

I think there's a better way, anyway.

Why pick just one major goal for one upcoming year and why wait until January 1? Why not decide to go on a journey? Like an Every Year's Quest, taking baby steps to becoming the mom, the wife, the person you were created to be?

For me, that has to look like overhauling and simplifying EV.ER.Y space in my life. I'll write about simplifying my spaces here and there, because I think doing that will keep me somewhat accountable, and I’m telling you that now because I think that will also keep me somewhat accountable… I need all the help I can get, y’all.

But not only for accountability… also for sharing ideas and hearing ideas from you. I truly believe that simplifying our spaces (both emotional and physical) will open up so much space for God to fill with Himself and do His sanctifying clean-up of the messes we inevitably create around ourselves as mamas and wives.

And y’all, so much more than any Resolution in 2018, we need more. of. Him.

Mamas, wives, women

...if you’re with me, moving past our resolutions and into His glory has to be where we start.
Because if you look back at those verses I quoted in my intro, and if you read them in their context, I think you’ll see they aren’t about reaching some personal goal or leaving some bad habit in the past.

They are about the redeeming work of Christ in our lives.
LOOK:

“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” -Phil 3:12-14 (but read the whole chapter, really)

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;” -2 Corinthians 5:17&18 (again, just read the whole chapter)

Christ Jesus has made me His own.
All this is from God.
Let that sink in for a little bit.

Friends, let’s not make resolutions that we are bound to fail this New Year. Let’s put our hands in His and let’s let Him lead us through our clutter and our mess and into His splendid glory, into His everyday mercies, into His love overflowing and never failing.

And come back tomorrow, because I have something to share.