how on earth to get peace on earth...

"Great peace have those who love your law and nothing causes them to stumble" Psalm 119:165

In an effort to bring some peace into our home we've been trying to implement some new things around here, some have been working and going well and some we have scrapped all together...

#1- Bible reading! I've been taking my kids entire nap/rest time to just study and pray and sit and drink my coffee or tea. I've been really desperately trying not do work or get distracted by the computer. (hence, not as much blogging getting done, as of late) I'm still meeting with some friends every other Monday night for a marriage study and I've started a new Bible study with a friend of mine- just the 2 of us working through a book and studying the Bible together. Both of these have been good for me and have been helping me get into the Word more and more.

#2- Scheduling...I'm not a scheduled person. I very much dislike schedules, but, in an effort to be more productive and get more done without more stress I've been trying to implement schedules around the house more. The problem with scheduling, for me at least, is that I tend to become a slave to the schedule and then get irritated if my schedule gets screwed up. So, this one has been a little come and go...I've been working on allowing for a plan B, but making sure I have a plan A. Funny story about this one- I'm probably the only girl in the world who has "yelled" at their husband about doing laundry because he started a load on Sunday when I was planning on doing it on Monday ;) (it might have had more to do with the fact that I was irritated at Jackson because he peed on the floor and took it out on Korey and the laundry, but, regardless, I still got mad at him for doing laundry- silly, silly girl- good thing he has a great sense of humor and has been teasing me and asking if it's laundry day every day since then) ;) 

#3- lists...is something we've just scrapped all together. I've come to realize that I'm not a procrastinator. I can't stand having stuff hanging over my head. It drives me crazy and to me a "to do" list is just that- something hanging over my head. It was turning me into psycho mom, even without trying. Everytime I would make a list for the week, or the day, I felt like it was something I had to do right then, immediately and if I didn't I felt like I failed or like I was failing if I didn't do it...so, I just scrapped the idea and decided that if something needs to get done I'll just either have to remember or it wasn't that important in the first place :)

#4- calendar...I've always had one, but now I've been trying to write more down, consult it more often and "live or die" by what's written in there- including menus. I'd gotten sort of lazy about my menu- I'd been making one and shopping off of it, but I hadn't really been sticking to it, but I decided to start making what's on my menu- even when Korey's not coming home. He's not such a huge food person, but I am and I was getting rather sick of having pancakes, eggs, and pb&j for dinner every night that he was working! Plus, then it's hard to have leftovers on hand for him when he comes home hungry- so, we've started doing more cooking and more planning of my days and weeks.

#5-staying home...along those same lines of "living and dying" by my calendar is the fact that I've stopped planning a lot each week. I've realized that I can handle doing stuff about 2 days a week and the rest of those days I really need to be home with my kids. It's good for all of us to be at home and spending time together-working on discipline, making meals, cleaning the house, staying on top of the laundry and keeping on a schedule is all easier when you're home! 

aren't these kids cute??!! They're so worth trying to implement peace in my home and striving towards creating a more peaceful environment :)