Hospitality on the Road

I really like thinking up ways to be hospitable. Usually what comes to mind is asking someone over to your home and providing some food and drink. After reading Karen Ehman's book A Life That Says Welcome (subtitled "Simple Ways to Open Your Heart and Home to Others"), I was inspired to think outside-the-box when it comes to loving and serving others.

One chapter was called "Hospitality on the Road" and was a reminder to be loving and encouraging to grocery store clerks, the mail lady, a local widow...doing small acts of love and kindness to whoever the Lord allows to cross our paths. We want to make others feel at home when they are with us and we can bless others without necessarily involving our home.

I love it when Karen shared about her long-time friend Kelly and how close they have remained throughout the years even though they live far apart. Karen says that Kelly...

uses the U.S. mail to deliver her kindness: a delicate hand-sewn treasure; a rich, homespun woolen ware; a handwritten recipe she thinks my family will enjoy; clipped coupons for items she knows that I buy; a bookmark imprinted with Scripture that speaks uncannily to my soul; a single bag of my favorite tea...

I really love to write letters, send cards, and little packages, but the daily demands of life and my lack of planning results in a lack of follow-through. These good intentions aren't realizing their reality...the stamps are in one part of the house, the cards are in another, addresses are buried deep somewhere in the computer...which makes my plan to encourage a friend through a hand-written often too difficult to complete.

So recently I decided to put together a "Hospitality on the Road" bag. I am using this small drawstring bag that I made last month to hold some stamps, a new purse-sized address book (and I actually sat down a few days ago and transferred all of my addresses into it!), and some cute new notecards and thank-you notes (courtesy of the $1 section at Michael's!). This bag fits inside my purse and gives me everything that I need to write a note to a friend and actually mail it too! So when I am sitting at the park or waiting to pick up a child or spending some time at the library or local coffee shop, I can take a few moments to tell a friend that I love them, share a bit of Scripture, or a few words of encouragement.

In order to make our priorities a reality, we must make it simple to carry out. Gather materials together in one spot...a bag or basket so that when you have a few moments you can actually get it done! This can be applied to our crafting, baking, cleaning, schooling...but I digress because this post is supposed to be about being hospitable as a way of life!

So as we think about opening our hearts and homes to others, let's get creative! I love thinking about how I can be a welcoming person wherever I am. Paying for the toll for the person behind you. Taking someone a bouquet of flowers. Sharing a smile with a stranger. Giving another driver the right-of-way. Spreading His love and light and life as we walk...after all, His Home is in our hearts. We are a walking home of Jesus that can hospitably invite others in to His welcoming life and love.

Simple Afternoons with a Preschooler

My little William is a handful. He is chunky and loud and cute and doesn't stop talking ALL DAY LONG. Right when I found out I was pregnant with baby #5, Will stopped taking his afternoon naps. And oh how I need some quiet in the afternoons!

My oldest son Sam was the same way. He dropped his nap by the time he was two, and I was pregnant and tired. That is when I first instituted an afternoon "quiet time" for an hour. I would give him a pile of books and he would stay in his room "reading" or playing quietly for an hour. My middle two children took naps until they were 6 and 5 so I never needed to start a "quiet time" with them...by the time they stopped napping, they started going to school!

Earlier this school year, Will would nap daily, Sam would play quietly on the computer, and I would nap or read or journal every afternoon. Now the scenario is that Sam plays on the computer, and Will wanders about LOUDLY or I reluctantly put in a video for him so that I can rest. But it's never truly quiet or restful when a TV is on.

So I am have been wanting to institute a daily "quiet time" for Will. It's been on the back-burner of the brain for a few months. Recently I read this post on creating quiet time bins for young ones and I knew I had found the answer for Will! I am also intrigued by these "preschool activities in a bag" and have been debating buying this book and hosting a swap. This would give Will something focused to do when I am trying to work one-on-one with Sam in the mornings...because he is a constant LOUD interruption...have I mentioned that Will is really loud!?! :)



So I have been busy pulling together some goodies for his quiet time bags. I didn't want to use plastic bins, so I have been happily sewing some simple drawstring bags and embroidering the days of the week on the front of each one in this free font and using some denim material I found at the thrift shop a while back. I am seeking to use what I already have. Inside each bag is going a few books and I have also set aside some wooden stringing characters, lacing cards, pipe cleaners, peg/shapes sorter toy, puzzles, etc....one activity for each bag. I am going to give him a bag each day to play with in his room and will start him off with 30 minutes alone and move up to an hour. Even though I know he won't play with those items the whole time, I think it will help settle him down, give him items to look forward to seeing again, and then maybe he'll just start playing or looking at others things in his room.


Being healthy and having margin means working towards small spaces of quiet and rest in our days. We need this. It helps us refresh, pray, refocus, and gives us a renewal in our relationships with each other. Regrouping and re-creating.

How do you find spaces of quiet when you have a toddler/preschooler at home?

Living Simply: Limit Information Overload

I LOVED all of your comments/thoughts on my recent post about priorities. So many things resonated with me. I was reminded that I get this way EVERY SPRING...the warmer weather is just incredibly energizing. The internet starts bubbling with fresh ideas. The urges to declutter and organize and clean are more awakened for me than any other time of the year. And pregnancy hormones promote nesting and re-ordering and painting and decorating but keep my mind just scattered enough that some days I start trying to do three different projects at once!

I slowed down my computer time this past week and that did make a HUGE difference in my mental focus. Instead of popping over to the computer for snippets throughout the day (which was causing me to get ADD with the tasks I already had at hand!), I didn't get on until right before or right after lunch and then again just once right before or right after dinner. I was able to stay much more in tune with my children, my to-do list, projects, etc. I was allowing the Internet to interrupt my mind too much and it was also contributing to too much mental clutter!!

Living more simply may mean not allowing too much information to get into my mind too quickly...too much inspiration makes life complicated with too many decisions to make. Limiting the amount of time I spend finding new ideas will allow me to really give my best to the ideas I already have ear-marked and want to pursue. I think it's just fear that I'll miss out on something (I'm an informational/inspirational junkie!) if I don't keep on top of reading blogs or perusing craft sites. I desire to get back to some stillness and mental contentedness and not bombard my mind too much.

And the Lord also reminded me of this post that I wrote a year and a half ago about how to order my day simply. I needed to be reminded to keep my days simple with a only a few items on my pretty plate...just enough to be healthy! To seek to stay away from being an information or project glutton which can lead me to burn-out or a self-focus that keeps me from serving others or even really seeing others.

As with all things whether good OR bad, too much of anything can throw us off balance and cause problems whether spiritual, mental, or emotional. We need to be discerning and listening to the Lord with ordering our time. And regularly re-evaluate our lives and priorities. Different seasons call for differing emphases with our time...and we really need the Lord's guidance as to when we are moving into a NEW season and need a new schedule or new priorities. This dependence on the Lord to order our days also keeps us from becoming rigid, inflexible, legalistic, or placing our hope or faith into our ideals or schedules.

There are seasons of rest, seasons of influence, seasons of greater creativity, seasons of sacrifice, seasons of healing, seasons of busy, and seasons of quiet...every one of us is on a different journey and has different needs at different times. That is why it is SO important that we don't model our lives after each other or compare our life with someone else's or even judge someone else's choices...we are all INDIVIDUALS in a unique relationship with the Lord and we MUST look to Him personally as to the way we should go. And give each other the grace and space and encouragement to do the same!

So after a season of gathering information (which has been extremely inspiring, good, and life-changing!), I think I am now moving toward a season of learning to apply the information...being faithful with what I already know instead of continuing to bombard my mind and heart with more. Start and finish the things I already know I want to do and leave behind the ideas that just don't fit me or my life right now. And give my mind an opportunity to really process and catch up with me!! :)

Here's to calming the ADD with simpler days and a quieter mental focus!
Can you relate?


photo by Will Lion

March Inspiration

After all the drama of my last post, I decided to share with you just a little of the inspirational goodness that I have been contemplating this beautiful Spring week!!

Above is a photo of my newly organized art stuff for the kiddos...I bought them fresh markers, watercolors, play-doh, and colored pencils this week along with a great new coloring book by Melissa & Doug. It's amazing how new supplies invigorates the children's interest in art again! There are now tons of new pictures found on every surface of the house!

I also LOVE Meg's post about yoga poses for children. She gives you a link to all of her photos and the ability to get them printed. I sent the photos to Target, picked them up today, and laminated them this afternoon:



Sew Mama Sew just got finished doing a wonderful Fat Quarter Month...tons of awesome tutorials of projects that you can make with just fat quarters. I plan on working on the baby burp cloths, baby shoes, and some bookmarks/journal covers for friends! And two other projects that are inspiring is this wonderful little girls' skirt for spring and Anna's thriftiness in making scrap quilts!!

This post led me to some great links about project-led learning which is definitely right up my alley. Eren's journey of sharing her contemplation of public schooling and homeschooling has been so real and refreshing. And speaking of learning, this video is worth watching to give you some wonderful ideas on helping little ones become more independent...I watched it a few days ago and have already starting implementing several concepts with my 2 1/2 year old Will!

A new blog to me...tons of great posts by many writers on simple living, frugality, green living, organics, etc...always learning something new here.

And finally, this sweet little post encouraged me to continue in my path of awareness...to soak life up and to relish all the fleeting simple moments that are so dear.

Where are you finding inspiration this Spring?

Prioritizing?!

This is one of those seasons where I feel like I have SO MANY things that I want to do and accomplish...so much inspiration and ideas...and yet I feel so paralyzed as to where to begin.

I have been regrouping my thoughts on schooling and having much discussion with Mike about what each one of our individual children need. Lots of thoughts about parenting and babies and pregnancy. Many great sewing projects are brewing constantly on the back-burner of my mind...baby quilts, burp cloths, nursing aprons, receiving blankets, embroidered onesies not to mention wanting to make some maternity skirts, adding fun patchwork to clothing, and keeping up with my monthly embroidered dishtowels.

This is also the time of year when I love to go thrifting and to consignment sales and yard sales while at the same time decluttering my home of the not-needed and sorting through all of our clothing. Oh yeah and I want to plant some herbs in containers, plant some flowers, and get some ferns for the front porch! And isn't there two bedrooms that need painting and some furniture that needs some white paint to freshen it up?!??! And let's not forget that I love keeping my freezer full of meals....let's try to have a cook day too.

And hospitality. Another big priority. Organize some informal play dates at the park. Have families over to eat dinner. Invite women over to craft. Have some children over to play....and goodness, I really want to blog! I am writing mental posts in the shower and at the park but the words never reach the keys on the computer.

I am BIG on living an intentional life. Figuring out what is really important to me and ordering my days accordingly. The problem that I am running into right now is that I have LOTS of ideas that all seem important to me...so many things that I truly VALUE that are beckoning to me. Cooking and shopping and decorating and sewing and reading and decluttering and organizing and crafting and homeschooling and gardening and friendships...it's a wonderfully full list!

Y'all I am stumped. Truly. I have no clarity on any of this right now...how to order my time and give to all of my priorities. I pray, I journal, I sift, I sort. A lot of this stuff does happen and finds its own way into my day without formal planning or cognitive intention. But my mind just won't stop racing as to what to do next! I sit down and want to do all of it...right then...and don't know which to do or where to begin. And when I finally choose something, then I also have all of the other activities still pressing at my mind and heart. Really struggling with being mindful and present in the moment.

Without micromanaging every hour of my day (that is totally not my personality and cuts off my creative flow/joy REALLY quickly), do you have good thoughts or ideas as to how to either let go or plan well or whatever?? :) I feel like I have mental/creative bombardment right now and don't know how to stop the madness! When this happens I tend towards paralysis and perfectionism and then don't get any of my goals done. I just sit and stew and ponder and philosophize and waste my time obsessing.

Okay, enough for now. I would welcome any calming feedback and constructive ideas :)