Meet Jeanine

Easy Ways to Declutter Your Home Without Feeling Overwhelmed

4/23/2019

Do you ever feel overwhelmed when you think about decluttering your home? Maybe you don't know where to start because there are so many places in your home that need your help?

I have felt the same way, so many times! I was often afraid it would take forever to get it all done, so I didn't even start.

If you have been wanting to freshen up your home for spring, I know it's tempting to try to sneak past all that clutter and bring in new things to distract you. But if you deal with the clutter first, you'll feel so much better.

Then, you'll be able to get rid of the wince...

Decluttering Tips for Getting Started

If you're ready to get started, here are some easy decluttering tips you can use today, to start decluttering your home without feeling overwhelmed.

Start with the room you most want to clear. I recommend choosing your favorite room or the one you'll enjoy most once the clutter is gone.) Put an empty box in that room, within easy reach.

(1) Look around the room at everything there - every clutter spot, every pile or stack - and ask this question: is it living in the right room?

If it really belongs somewhere else, whether you know where its real home is, or not, put it in the box and keep doing that until all that's left in the room, belongs there.

Now, take that box and remove everything you know has a specific home somewhere else in your house or apartment. It wandered in by accident and now needs your escort back to its true home.

After that, what's left in the box will be things that don't have a home. This is decision-making time.

(2) Will it stay or should it go?

It's already taken care of, in what could become a donation box. If you kept it in the box, you'd be done with your clutter-clearing for that room.

Think ahead to quick and easy decluttering your home, room by room, without overwhelm. By leaving as much as you can in the box.

I know that's the hard part, though.

Here is the best reason for keeping something that is still in that box: you know you need it & will have to buy another one in the future if that one is tossed out. Not I might need it someday but "what will I do next week when I need it again?"

If you don't even remember buying it, or you know in your heart you don't need it, get rid of it. It's not your friend.

And it's in the way of the decluttering you finally feel ready to tackle. Never waste a decluttering moment!

But what about gifts or meaningful moments from the past? You don't love it but it holds emotion from the giver or from your history.

I encourage you to take a picture of it for your memory book, but don't keep it.

I promise that looking at it there will be just as meaningful. Plus, you get the relief of not having to find a place for it anymore.

But if you just aren't ready to let go of some of those things you found lying around, create another box for temporary storage. It still needs to leave the house, but could live for a while in the garage or storage unit where so many things go to die.

These two decluttering tips (and that get out of jail free card) are an easy way to get started with decluttering your home. Hopefully, without the overwhelm you usually feel.

But we're not done yet. I've got decluttering homework for you...

Take the decluttering challenge & start clearing clutter somewhere in your home today. Even if it's just one item, moved to a new and better home.

You'll get a decluttering tips checklist for clearing clutter without overwhelm and access to Dana White's challenge. She's a blogger, author and decluttering expert whose wisdom I am excited to share with you.

She's offering a 15-minute video where she will show you how to declutter your craziest space, plus you get free printable decluttering worksheets you can use for every room in your home.

Get started by clicking the highlighted link or the image above, and then, share your progress with a whole bunch of ambitious declutterers. We'll be using the hashtag: #tackleyourscariestspace.

After you sign up, tell me in a comment: where in your home does clutter bother you most?

See you tomorrow!

Love, Jeanine

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Don't forget to sign up for the decluttering challenge, so you can start today, to declutter your home without overwhelm.
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A Faith Book about Spiritual Doubt

4/22/2019

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It's Easter Monday and today, we're exploring a faith book about how to handle doubt as a woman of faith...

Doubt like Thomas's can be a positive thing, especially if it brings us closer to God. Doubt can help shape our faith. - Sheryl Giesbrecht Turner

faith book for women, faith book for moms

I think what I love most about this book is her effort to normalize doubt, as part of the Christian experience.

I used to feel guilty about my own doubt, seeing it as a flaw and a weakness. I thought that if I were a better Christian, I would have certainty, instead.

But in the book, the author suggests that doubt can actually help us create a closer relationship with God. That it can become a passageway both to deeper trust and to certainty.

I invite you to grow comfortable with doubting.
- Sheryl Griesbrecht Turner

What about You?

In your faith tradition, how is doubt handled? And what do you believe about it?

When you experience it, how do you react?

I have always wished it away. But because I was raised in an academic, prove-it-to-me kind of family, I have often struggled with it.

The book suggests accepting it, instead, and shows you how to use it as a launching pad into a deeper faith.

So, if you also tend to be a doubting Thomas, and would rather be a faith-filled Mary or Martha, I highly recommend this wise, comforting book. I loved it the whole way through.

Below the quote, I've included part of an interview where the author talks more about the book and about dealing with doubt.

And by the way, if you like reading inspirational books, get access to my lifestyle library, where I've got an article with links to all the faith book blog posts I've written, all in one place.

My lifestyle library also includes articles about slow living, hygge at home, perfecting your morning routine & other lifestyle topics.

See you next time!

Love, Jeanine

If ours is an examined faith, we should be unafraid to doubt. If doubt is eventually justified, we were believing what clearly was not worth believing. But if doubt is answered, our faith has grown stronger. I know God more certainly and I can enjoy God more deeply. There is no believing without some doubting, and believing is all the stronger for understanding and resolving doubt. - Os Guinness

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Easter: The Conversation at the Stone

4/20/2019

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A Creative Retelling, from John 20

Jesus: Mary

Mary: Rabbi, it's you! Oh, thank God. (she hugs him)

Jesus: Listen, I can't stay. I'm only here for a moment.

Mary: You can't stay?

Jesus: No, I just wanted you to see me before I left, and know that I'm okay. And I want you to tell the others.

Mary: What do you mean before you left? Where are you going?

Jesus: I'm going to go be with God. Tell them all I'll be with the Father. Your God, the one you already know.

Mary: But you came back.

Jesus: For just a moment. I have to go, but I will be with you all in spirit.

The Grief and the Glory

I often think of Easter in songs.

There's Keith Green's lyrics - "it is finished. He has done it. Life conquered death. Jesus Christ has won it."

But there's also Bryan Duncan's song - "Please know that I love you. I'll stay by your side. If only now in spirit. I'll still be your guide. You will not suffer long. I've suffered for you. I love you with my life."

When Easter comes, I feel the triumph of the victory, but right along with that is the sadness of the loss.

I think about the confusion Jesus's friends and family must have felt. None of them had expected the story to end this way. And it must have taken a while to sort out that it was also a beginning and a very important one.

Being with him, even for a moment, would have been wonderful. But then he left again. They wouldn't have understood yet what it meant to be with them in spirit.

So, I am an odd duck, I know, to relive grief every year along with the glory of his victory, but I do.

And I understand the bigger picture. I'm so grateful that he did leave, because now I can know him in spirit. And so can you.

But I want to say that it's also okay to miss him. To wish you could hug him. Or sit at his feet the way and have dinner with him, the way Mary and Martha did.

This Easter ending of the story foreshadows the one we all long for, the time still to come when we will be with Jesus and see him with our own eyes.

Happy Easter!

Love, Jeanine

I would like to say, just before I leave you, I'll be back some day. And with me I will take you. So do not be afraid. Only watch and pray. And wait for my return. ... I'll prepare a place where we can live together. And we'll be face to face. And share our new forever. ... Please know that I love you, I'll stay by your side. If only now in spirit, I'll still be your guide...
- Bryan Duncan, Love You With My Life

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Anticipating Easter: 5 Things I Learned During Lent this Year

4/19/2019

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This year, my approach to Lent was slightly different.

Less passive & more slow faith contemplative. Instead of just reading through a passage or devotional, I talked about it during my quiet time. I prayed it during my quiet time.

And I jumped into the story to get a closer view. As a result, the stories seemed more true & in an even deeper way than they usually do. They became more real to me in those moments.

The resurrection gives my life meaning and direction and the opportunity to start over no matter what my circumstances. -Robert Flatt

5 Things I Learned During Lent this Year

(1) God is my God & I am his people.

When you personalize what you're reading in those Bible verses and passages, it almost feels like a story written just for you.

This year, I let go of a lot of the self-imposed rules about my faith - what I should be thinking as I read, what I'm supposed to get out of a passage, how a quiet time is supposed to go, whether or not my faith or beliefs are good enough. And I just dove in without the baggage.

Each time, I let go and begin again, it's at a deeper level. And my faith morphs into something a lot more God+Jeanine and a lot less this-is-what-it-should-look-and-feel-like.

(2) The one who knows us is with us.

Though you might feel like you've been dropped off alone in the middle of a never-ending story that isn't going your way, God is right there with you in it, caring about exactly what you're going through, in a way that you might not be aware of at the time.

If you're grieving, he's grieving with you. He knows that ultimately, you're going to be okay, but he also loves you & understands exactly what you're feeling. And what was even more important about this idea is the following...

(3) Feelings are normal.

The Lazarus story was my favorite this year. And one thing that really stood out to me was that Mary and Martha both understood clearly who Jesus was and what he was capable of, but still cried as they talked to him about losing their brother.

But not only did Jesus not chide them for being upset when they knew he could ask anything and God would grant it - that might be a slight paraphrase - he cried with them.

So, trusting him does not mean you can't be upset when things go wrong. Feelings are allowed.

(4) No matter what, God wants to use you.

It really stood out to me this year that Jesus sent out his disciples to do the same healing work he did. He loved them tenderly, and often seemed to be training them to continue being there for people after he was gone.

But these same disciples were often so clueless that half the time, they didn't seem to get who Jesus, why he was with them, or what was actually going on at the time. And sometimes, I could totally understand that because Jesus said some confusing things.

But they were still the ones he told his secrets to and he chose them, again and again, to be with him, to learn from him and to do the work he called them to do.

They were helpful in spite of themselves. And so are we.

(5) God is like Jesus.

I am grateful for all of the Lent and Easter stories because of what I learn and remember about what God is like. The tenderness, the radical acceptance, the healing, the friendship, the calling, the rescues and the miracles.

That's the God I walk with every day, my hand in his.

Knowing him and holding his hand - that's what Easter means to me this year.

What Does Easter Mean to You?

Renewal. Rebirth. New Beginnings. Hope. Restoration. Resurrection.

There are so many words that surface during this season as people write and speak about anticipating spring and Easter. What does this time of year mean for you, or in your life?

Here are a few journal prompts you can use during your next morning quiet time...

(1) How did your relationship with God or your faith grow during this season of Lent?

(2) Did you get any new insights on familiar Bible verses or passages?

(3) What does Easter mean to you this year?

Wishing you an Easter filled with meaning, or a spring filled with the possibility of renewal, or whatever you celebrate that you dive deep into its energy.

Love, Jeanine

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Lenten Meatless Meal Planning Ideas: Breakfast for Dinner

4/18/2019

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As I've mentioned in previous posts, many people celebrate Lent by going meatless on Fridays, so I have been suggesting meatless dinners that might be fun for the whole family. Comfort food dinners, so the same dinner that takes away meat adds something good.

Well, I have always loved breakfast for dinner! So I wanted to suggest that at least one week, as Lent comes to a close, or anytime you want to add comfort, you consider breakfast for dinner.

French toast, pancakes, bacon - there are so many choices. But if you're wanting healthier comfort food in your breakfast-for-dinner meal, read on...

meal planning ideas, meal planning on a budget, family meal planning on a budget

Today's meatless dinner idea - that is also a breakfast for dinner - is huevos rancheros. Yummy, and healthy, too! Have you ever had it for dinner?

Hope you enjoy it. See you next time!

Love, Jeanine

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The Sabbath Simplicity Lifestyle, Part 2: How to Create One

4/17/2019

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What were Sundays like when you were growing up?

We'd go to church and then, sometimes go out to eat after the service. But once we got home, my mom would do the laundry. I can still hear the sound of Neil Diamond's "Soolaimon," sometimes also sung or hummed by my mom, in concert with the sound of the washing machine. I'd read with the music as a backdrop, sometimes singing along.

Yesterday, in part one of this two-part series on creating a sabbath lifestyle, I talked about how the book, Rest: Living in Sabbath Simplicity, inspired me to make changes toward creating a slower, sabbath lifestyle.

I described how doing so has changed my morning and evening routines. It's also changing my experience on Sundays.

But doing so in good ways, that make my days better. As I mentioned yesterday, it's a slow lifestyle, and her book is actually a slow lifestyle book.

Slow living always means taking more time to savor life, in addition to the Sabbath rest this lifestyle generates.

The heart of honoring the Sabbath happens on the day you choose each week, which for me, is Sunday. That is the shift I am tweaking even more than the other days of the week, toward rest.

Do you have a day of rest on the weekend?

“Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
- Mark 6:31 (NIV)

Shifting the Way You See Yourself

Sabbath Simplicity can become a lifestyle that helps you uncover your true self & keeps you from defining yourself in misleading ways.

In the book I've quoted above, the author makes the point that giving ourselves a Sabbath and spending time with God will infuse that day with love that has nothing to do with accomplishments or possessions.

She says that we sometimes see ourselves in terms of what we own or think we need to own. Or define ourselves in terms of what we have accomplished or failed to accomplish.

Taking a break from shopping and working breaks that spell and may make it easier to see ourselves the way God does.

Applied to myself, it means that when I choose this lifestyle, I become the person who loves Hallmark movies, and laughing with her son. Or the person who gets lost in a novel and returns to awareness to find that the light in the room changed as afternoon headed for evening.

Life, in those moments, becomes quiet times, and cups of tea. Family time and time with friends.

How to Create Sabbath Simplicity in Your Life

I suggest starting with creating moments of rest in your day. And then, you can move toward changing what you do on the weekends.

Try it right now: take several deep breaths in a row, before continuing to read.

Mentally let go of any stress you have been feeling. Stretch if you need to and then, take another deep breath or two.

Take a moment to imagine what’s next for you, in your day. Imagine it going smoothly and well before returning to what you are doing now.

Could you find a way to take a break like this several times a day?

The next step might be to create an hour’s rest in your evening that does not include multitasking. Time with family, time with your spouse, or time just for you. At the end of that time, imagine restful sleep that night, and a peaceful day the next day.

And finally, how might you create more Sabbath rest during your weekend, each week? What shifts would you have to make?

As this post comes to an end, I encourage you to continue thinking about your need for rest and how you might meet it.

A Gift for You

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To access Sabbath Hygge: 4 Ways to Use Hygge to Create Deeper Rest, other slow living lifestyle inspiration, and the rest of my lifestyle library, click the highlighted link.
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What are your thoughts about making time for rest?

Do you create moments of rest each day? And a weekly time of rest? If you don’t, what could you shift in order to do so?

See you next time!

Love, Jeanine

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The Sabbath Simplicity Lifestyle

4/16/2019

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Just like my faith book posts, today's post and the part-two post, tomorrow, began with reading a book I wanted to share. But then, I realized that I wanted to share more than I normally would about the impact the book has had on me, and the decisions I am making as a result. Keep reading, and I'll tell you why.

rest: living in sabbath simplicity, sabbath simplicity

When I first downloaded the book, Rest: Living in Sabbath Simplicity, I really just wanted some encouragement to rest on Sundays. With my chronic illness, I am sometimes sick for long periods of time, and I find that when I don’t make it to church, it’s all too easy to make it just another day to work from home.

Reading the book did encourage me that Sunday needs to be a day of rest.

But then, the idea of sabbath simplicity as a slow living lifestyle began to call my name. And this slow lifestyle book was suggesting a lot more rest than I was getting at the time.

Was I finally ready to hear the common refrain my life kept trying to sound about how I needed to rest much more than I normally did?

It began to seem like the calling that it was. And finally, I started seriously thinking about how I could do it. How I could make it work.

And I found that it does work. Maybe it would work for you, too?

For women of faith, the sabbath simplicity lifestyle merits a closer look...

...you need only to be still. I know how weary you are…You have been struggling to just to keep your head above water, and your strength is low. I am calling you to rest in Me. - Jesus Today, by Sarah Young & Exodus 14:14

What is Sabbath Simplicity?

Sabbath simplicity is creating a slow living lifestyle around honoring the Sabbath. But not just on one day of the week.

Sabbath simplicity can begin with honoring the Sabbath once a week, but it also means gradually beginning to honor that rhythm every day. So, your deepest extended rest would begin on the weekend, but your daily rest can begin every evening with dinner and family.

We need moments of rest throughout the day, where we give our minds and bodies a chance to push the reset button. Creating a Sabbath Simplicity lifestyle will give you those moments.

My Own Plan for Sabbath Simplicity

Though I still need to shift toward a better weekly Sabbath rest, I am benefiting already from adopting the Sabbath Simplicity lifestyle during the week.

I start each day with a morning quiet time routine that includes reading the Bible, prayer and other inspirational reading. Which means my day begins with rest.

I work from home, but even when work is calling me to jump in and get started, my days go better if I have a morning quiet time first.

“If you are the type to keep running all the time, perhaps the first step on your Sabbath Simplicity journey is to begin to see the evening as a time to take a small rest, to reconnect relationally, to stop.”
- Rest: Living in Sabbath Simplicity

My after-dinner evening routine brings me rest, again. Though I sometimes do, my goal is to shift away from getting back to work after dinner and toward reading, watching something on TV, and hanging out with my son, instead.

I also pause, throughout the day, instead of rushing from one activity to the next. That pause seems to be lessening my stress by letting me sort of catch up to myself before going on to the next thing.

What would a Sabbath shift be like for you?

Tomorrow, we’ll talk more about this idea of creating a lifestyle around honoring the Sabbath. And I’ll share some other thoughts from the book that inspired me.

Meanwhile, download my new, free slow living eBook.

See you then!

Love, Jeanine

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The Slow Morning Solution for Night Owls

4/15/2019

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Today is a cozy, slow living one here at MeetJeanine.me.

Four slow living posts are up already and this one is the final one, today. The first posts describe and explain the slow living philosophy and lifestyle and then, several do the same for cozy, slow morning routines.

It's that last idea we'll take a closer look at in this post, as a solution for night owls. If you're a night owl mom, who does battle with mornings because life won't let you sleep in, take a look at slow mornings to see if they might help.

But first, here are the other posts in the series ...

The Slow Living Lifestyle and Philosophy
Slow Living for Women of Faith
How Do You Want Your Mornings to Feel?
Tea and Meditation: Tea Ritual Ideas
The Slow Morning Solution for Night Owls

To download all of the slow living posts in a free printable pdf & bonus getting started checklist, plus bonus information about slow living for families, go to The Slow Living eBook.

If you’re naturally a night owl, dragging yourself out of bed early is challenge enough. There’s no need to add meditation, journaling, a five mile run and a head start on emails on top of that. If mornings are hard, your morning routine should be easy. - Beth Swarecki,
A Night Owl's Guide to Surviving Early Mornings

Are You a Night Owl?

I know I've mentioned on this blog before that I am, so if you are, too, then you have my sympathy. I know what it's like to be staring down an unbelievably late bedtime because you're just not sleepy yet. And then, being forced to greet morning far earlier than you want.

And morning might be an even bigger challenge if you're a mom with young children who are usually bright-eyed and bushy-tailed long before you're ready to concede that morning has arrived.

So how can those of us who are night owls wrest control of our mornings from our late nights? ...

morning routine for moms, morning routine, best morning routine for night owls

Being a morning (or evening) person is inborn, genetic and very hard to change. "What I think we’re showing here is that there’s some sort of importance about us ideally being able to work, wake, and match up our schedule as best as we can to what we are biologically suited for," Patricia Wong, as told to Brian Resnick, Vox.com

The Slow Morning Solution: Don't Force Yourself to Get Going too Quickly

For struggling night owl moms, who have to get up too early, design your morning routines to be as easy as possible. I'm not sure that means you can't do meditation or journaling, as the first quote suggests, or anything you want, as long as it works for you.

But give yourself the amount of time you need to come to life, no matter how long that is, before demanding anything of yourself that will challenge you unduly.

Slow mornings, as I have come to understand them, are morning routines for moms (or anyone) during which you don't rush through getting ready and you take the time for self-care or other experiences you'll enjoy as you gradually wake up fully and become more alert.

They can last 15 minutes or 2 hours or can include the entire morning - how long the routine is designed to last would depend on your needs and your schedule for that day. My slow morning routine usually lasts for 3 hours, and then, I feel much more ready to face whatever comes next in my day.

And slow mornings can include beginning the day later, when you can do that, as mine sometimes do. Creating a slow morning routine may help in many ways to make mornings easier for night owls.

But hitting the snooze button as many times as you want is likely to be a mistake. Especially if you have to go in to work.

Because when you do that, you leave yourself with no time to adjust to the fact that it's morning before you thrust yourself out into the middle of it. What if you got up earlier, but had plenty of time to actually wake up?

I have tried it both ways - giving myself plenty of time before working outside the home or at home, and sometimes I got ready first and then allowed myself free time before working and other times, I gave myself time to do nothing, and then I got ready for the day.

For me, it's the second strategy that works the best. If I have a cup of tea, have a quiet time, read or do other things that don't require any movement, I get the time I need to move later with much more coordination. :)

But for others, gentle movement like yoga or stretching might be a better way to wake up gradually. That's why I don't think there is any one way, except your way.

I do think, though, that forcing yourself to rush and giving yourself very little time to wake up is unkind, if you're not a morning person. So my question for you, night owl moms, is what would be kinder for you?

And is there one change you could try to see if it helps?

Consider adapting the slow morning routine idea to fit your own morning situation.

And speaking of your morning situation, tell me in a comment what your morning routine is like. Is it challenging?

See you tomorrow!

Love, Jeanine

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Slow Morning Tea and Meditation: Tea Ritual Ideas

4/15/2019

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There is nothing quite like a freshly brewed pot of tea
to get you going in the morning. -Phyllis Logan

Today's post series is dedicated both to cozy, slow living and to falling in love with slow mornings. This post is an invitation to morning tea and the tea lifestyle that fits so nicely within the slow movement.

If you're looking for ways to slow down mornings so you can enjoy them more, take a look at creating a morning tea time. If you love tea, you may find this post gives you ideas for using tea to create a soothing, slow moment in an otherwise rushed morning routine.

But don't miss the other posts in the series...

The Slow Living Lifestyle and Philosophy
Slow Living for Women of Faith
How Do You Want Your Mornings to Feel?
The Slow Morning Solution for Night Owls

To download all of the slow living posts in a free printable pdf & bonus getting started checklist, plus bonus information about slow living for families, go to The Slow Living eBook.

I structure my day by cups of tea. - S.T.Joshi

Slow Mornings & Morning Tea

Do you love tea? My own morning tea is the absolute best part of my morning. And I do structure my day around it.

Slow mornings make room for cups of tea, sipped slowly while reflecting, reading, journaling or staring out the window as the trees blog gently in the wind. During a slow morning, there will always be enough time to savor it.

And if mornings are a challenge for you, pausing for a big cup of tea may help you shift from still sleepy to willing to be awake. It also gives you a calming, soothing moment that keeps stress at bay before you move forward into whatever the day holds.

If your days often move fast, having morning tea can be one way to ease into it more slowly.

Here's a brief idea for a morning tea ritual...

Morning Tea Rituals

(1) Light a Tealight Candle: light it before you make your tea so you can see it's glow as you go through the tea-making ritual and then have it nearby as you sip.

(2) Meditation Moment: once your tea is made, take a moment as you sip to think about what the day holds for you and imagine it going the way you would like.

(3) Journal: jot down any thoughts or insights that come to you. You might even ask a question before making your tea and just leave it there as you sip, to see what pops into your mind in the form of inspiration, ideas or intuitive guidance.

(4) Reading: You can add reading to your tea moment, as part of a quiet time that includes the Bible or a devotional, or by reading your latest novel and starting your day with the relaxation of reading for pleasure.

(5) Blow Out the Candle: once you have finished your tea and journaling or reading, blow out your candle as an end to the ritual.

However you decide to enjoy your morning tea moment, just make sure there's plenty of time to savor each sip during your slow morning.

See you next time!

Love, Jeanine

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5 Journal Prompts: How Do You Want Your Mornings to Feel?

4/15/2019

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As I mentioned in my post earlier this morning, it's a cozy, slow living day, here at Meet Jeanine. In this post, let's look at how to make mornings better with the slow morning approach.

How Do You Want Your Mornings to Feel?

That is the real first question as we get into this post.

Do you struggle with mornings? Have ever felt like you hate them and would rather start the day in the afternoon?

If you're answering yes to those questions (even occasionally), the first question to consider in this post is what do you wish your mornings were like, instead? Take a moment to answer that for yourself.

How would an ideal morning feel?

Because before we start talking about what to do differently, and what and how to change, the first thing we're after is the feeling you want. What feeling would make you glad you got up when you did?

My answer to that question is peace. That's the foundation of what I want. On top of that, I might add things like an unhurried experience, moments of simple pleasures (like my morning tea) and the quiet alone time that makes it easy to accomplish the priorities I have chosen for the day.

But the underlying feeling I am after each morning is peace.

What is it for you?

What are Slow Mornings?
(+ What Do Your Mornings Need?)

Slow mornings, as I have come to understand them, are morning routines for moms (or anyone) during which you don't rush through getting ready and you take the time for self-care or other experiences you'll enjoy as you gradually wake up fully and become more alert.

Could slower mornings help?

Maybe you love your mornings, already. And you find that even if your mornings move fast, you still love waking up, getting ready and starting your day. If that's your experience, then you are already doing exactly what your mornings need.

But for the rest of us, the morning experience might need a little tweaking. And if it needs a lot of tweaking, then consider slowing mornings down.

Give your mornings a makeover, by identifying what's not working, what might work better and what is non-negotiable in order to for you to create a morning you want to wake up to each day.

Grab your journal and first, write down how you want your mornings to feel.

Then, ask and answer these questions...

(1) What do I most want to change about my experience each morning?

(2) What would perfect look like?

(3) Have I ever had a great morning? What did that look like?

(4) What do I already know how to do (self-care practices, troubleshooting in other areas, etc.) that I could use to shift the way mornings feel? How might moving more slowly through morning help?

(5) What can I try tomorrow morning that might make a difference?

Stay tuned for another post in the series about slow mornings to see if those suggestions might help, too.

The Slow Living Series

If the idea of slow living is beginning to appeal to you, take a look at the other posts in today's series ...

The Slow Living Lifestyle and Philosophy
Slow Living for Women of Faith
Tea and Meditation: Tea Ritual Ideas
The Slow Morning Solution for Night Owls

To download all of the slow living posts in a free printable pdf & bonus getting started checklist, plus extra bonus information about slow living for families, go to The Slow Living eBook.

See you next time!

Love, Jeanine

4 Comments

Slow Living for Women of Faith

4/15/2019

10 Comments

Our life with God is meant to have a rhythm, a cadence.
-Keri Wyatt Kent, Rest: Living in Sabbath Simplicity

The Slow Living Series

This post is part of a slow living series that can help you get cozy with the slow living lifestyle & finally, conquer mornings.

Here are the other posts in the series ...

The Slow Living Lifestyle and Philosophy
How Do You Want Your Mornings to Feel?
Tea and Meditation: Tea Ritual Ideas
The Slow Morning Solution for Night Owls

To download all of the slow living posts in a free printable pdf & bonus getting started checklist, plus extra bonus information about slow living for families, go to The Slow Living Series.

Finding Our Own Pace & Cadence

In this post, I want to take the slow living lifestyle philosophy and apply it to our life of faith and our relationship with God.

I believe that we are meant to learn from Jesus, how to find our own rhythm of living our lives and pausing to rest.

How to act and then, rest. How to serve and then, pause. Just like he did.

But what sometimes comes up for women as we think about slowing life down and taking time to pause and rest is this fear that we won't do enough (or be enough). We often define ourselves by how busy we are, by everything we are trying to accomplish.

As Christian women, we are called away from defining ourselves in any way that is not ultimately about God. And His is the voice that should inform how we spend our time.

When we strip away every circumstantial identity — writer, mother, wife — we are left with the only identity that can never be in question: I am a woman of God. When we define ourselves as women and men of God, ...our worth is no longer in question. - Erin Loechner, Chasing Slow

We must learn the rhythm that God has wired into us and to begin, we must pause. - Keri Wyatt Kent

The most important reason to pause, and to shift into a slow living lifestyle is to make sure that we slow down long enough and regularly enough not to miss God's voice.

That still, small voice is most easily heard when our hearts, minds and bodies are quiet. It's much harder to hear those whispers above the noise of our busy lives.

In my own life, when I was too busy, I was missing something. And we need God's wisdom too much to take a chance on missing it.

I love the way church sermons can sound like they were written for us. But that's not the same as the voice we hear in our own quiet times, speaking softly just to us, telling us exactly what we need right in that moment.

But God's voice is available all the time - not just during those moments when we spend time dedicated to Him.

In order to hear it, we can't do one thing while thinking about another. We can't live half in and half out of each moment, already mentally headed for the next thing.

That be here, now thing is for all of us. And it's imperative, because we have a connection with God to protect. An openness to hearing what we need to hear and to being shown what we might be missing.

3 Ways to Shift into a Slow Living,
Listening Connection with God

(1) Unhurried Quiet Times: in our quiet times with God, we can start our days letting God lavish us with His love for us (1 John 1:3) and then, we can lavish with love each part of our day, one thing at a time.

Bring your journal, so you can take notes. Write down the thoughts and insights and guidance you receive, and from time to time, go back to re-read it, to see how they are being woven into a story. And to make sure you are seeing the bigger picture.

(2) The Pause in Between: after fully engaging with each new moment of our day, we can pause. Refill, pour out, pause. Then, repeat, letting go as you pause, before moving on to the next thing.

The idea that we should rush, rush rush and hurry up to get there did not come from God, and it's hurting us. Slow living offers us a chance to honor the way God made us and slow down long enough to listen carefully to hear His specific call around developing our own pace.

Start with your morning quiet time routine. An upcoming post today will say more about the concept of slow mornings, but not address quiet times specifically.

How can you create a morning quiet time routine that is slow and unhurried, and gives you plenty of time to hang out with God? Make sure to give yourself enough time and freedom in your quiet times.

(3) Taking Time to Rest on the Sabbath: take a look at how you spend your Sabbath day. It's so easy to use it as a day to finish our chores, or get more done.

Do you use it to rest? That's our calling.

My blog posts tomorrow and the following day with be about creating Sabbath simplicity, which is a way of honoring the call to rest fully on the Sabbath.

When you can create a lifestyle that both honors the Sabbath and gives you moments to pause throughout the day (including your time with God), you will be honoring God's call to rest and leaning into your own God-made pace and rhythm.

What's the first change you feel called to make? Let me know in a comment.

See you next time!

Love, Jeanine

10 Comments

The Slow Living Lifestyle and Philosophy

4/15/2019

22 Comments

Slow living is about knowing and loving the things we value, and designing our lives to spend the most possible time enjoying them. It’s about having intentionality ... in our activities, about embracing the fact that you’re not doing it all – it’s about doing less, but better.” — Kayte Ferris

Today, here at the Meet Jeanine blog, is dedicated to cozy, slow living and falling in love with slow mornings.

This post is the first of several blog posts I'll be sharing today, and the next couple of days will continue the theme.

I wrote this series & the free eBook that compiles and expands on it because I believe that if you're a mom, a slower lifestyle and pace can help you take back your time, be more present with your kids, carve out more time for yourself and feel good about the way you and your family spend your days.

In this post, let's take a look at the slow living lifestyle and the philosophy behind it...

Our pace is determined not by the length of our to-do list but by whether we pause (and for how long) in between the items on those lists.
-Keri Wyatt Kent, Rest: Living in Sabbath Simplicity

The Slow Living Lifestyle & Philosophy

It has taken me years to fully integrate the concept of slow living, especially as it applies to me and my life. On the surface, the pursuit of a simplified, less cluttered life seems easy to understand, but the implications - not to mention personalizing it for yourself - are not as simple.

Here's the way I understand the slow living movement and philosophy today...

Slow living is about separating who you are from your to-do list. It's about letting go of the idea that more is better, and that faster is the way to go.

It's about doing one thing at a time and devoting yourself to it, being fully present and engaged. Which means that with slow living, you let go of multi-tasking whenever possible.

And you let yourself take the time to enjoy simple pleasures, to savor moments you love. For example, the hygge lifestyle is a slow lifestyle: savoring a cup of tea, lingering over time with family and friends, snuggling under a blanket and letting go of the worry about time.

Slow living is about the pause between each moment of engagement and the next one. It devalues the rush from one moment to the next. There's no hurry.

The slow movement can be applied, specifically, to things like food and clothes.

Why hurry through fast food when you can take the time to make really good food? Go out of your way a little, taking the time to procure what you know is better.

And live a little in your clothes before rushing to buy the next new thing. Savor what you already have.

Consider this a brief introduction to slow living, as a lifestyle and philosophy. Each new post, today, may help you sink into it a little more.

But what do you think, so far? Does it appeal to you? Is it calling your name?

3 Slow Living Books I Recommend

There are many more books I could recommend. But these are a great place to start...

Busyness is a byproduct of our culture. It is the sacrifice we make for our religion of more... But more is a never-ending immeasurable... More is always, by definition, just ahead at the horizon. That’s why we never stop chasing it. More is never enough. - Erin Loechner, Chasing Slow

One thing I love about this book is her stories. I would forget that she was making a point or teaching me something, but I'd get the message anyway while she entertained me. This was my favorite of the three.

A cluttered garage is little more than a graveyard of insecurities, a cemetery of might have been or could have been or should have been. Or should never have been. - Brooke McAlary, Destination Simple

Quick note about this book: I love some of her quotes, and I include two here, but I was a wee bit disappointed with the rituals. I love to get interesting ritual ideas (light a candle, say a prayer, do the meditation), but these were more like daily activities.

But I do love that she talks about the connection between the way we live and our identity. She talks about the willingness to shift the way we see ourselves and makes it clear that letting go in that way is a sort of first step to living more slowly.

We are drowning under to-do lists. We have been taught the longer the list, the more important we are. The more ticks we have on our list means the more efficient/smart/productive/successful we are. - Brooke McAlary

This book is an account of my winding, messy journey from exhaustion to peace, from isolation to connection, from hustling and multitasking to sacred presence. And this book is an invitation, too—a hand reaching out across the pages, inviting you into that same journey…My prayer is that this book will be a thousand invitations, springing up from every page, calling you to ... recraft a life marked by meaning, connection, and unconditional love. — Shauna Niequist, Present Over Perfect

The Slow Living Series

I invite you to read the other slow living posts to explore how you might adapt it to your own lifestyle. See what coziness it might have for you.

Here are the other posts in the series ...

Slow Living for Women of Faith
How Do You Want Your Mornings to Feel?
Tea and Meditation: Tea Ritual Ideas
The Slow Morning Solution for Night Owls

To download all of the slow living posts in a free printable pdf & bonus getting started checklist, plus bonus information about slow living for families, go to The Slow Living eBook.

See you next time!

Love, Jeanine

22 Comments

What is Slow Faith?

4/14/2019

0 Comments

Slow faith is faith that develops over time spent in God's presence (Isaiah 41:10). It's a felt sense of who God is, along with the experience that backs it up.

It is dedicating time to sit at the feet of Jesus, the way Mary did (Luke 10:39), so that you can develop her faith and learn about him.

Slow faith is about giving yourself Sabbath rest and slowing life down (Matthew 28), so there's plenty of space for your morning quiet time routine and for whispered wisdom from God when your mind and heart are open to hear it.

It's trusting that God will lead you down the path made for you (Psalm 16), without the rush to get there yesterday. It's resting in hope as we continue down that path, following him.

Slow faith is the willingness to get cozy and quiet, and listen for that still, small voice while you spend time delighting in God's presence and he delights in yours (Psalm 16).

It's giving God your doubts (Mark 9:24) and being willing to wait to know the answers, because you've decided to trust God no matter what. And you know there's time.

Slow faith is filling yourself up with God's love (John 13) because there's nothing you'd rather do and no place you'd rather be.

This is what slow faith means to me. It's the kind I want most.

Read These Blog Posts for More Slow Faith

Slow Living for Women of Faith
The Sabbath Simplicity Lifestyle
The Sabbath Simplicity Lifestyle, Part Two

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Growing Your Faith with the Lazarus Story

4/13/2019

4 Comments

In yesterday's post, I compared Lazarus to Wesley in The Princess Bride, and made the point that even when life hands you its worst, and it looks like things are not ending well, you can trust that God is still writing your story. The real ending is still to come and may be just around the corner.

Today, let's take a look at the next part of the story, when Mary catches us to Jesus and he sees her grief...

Martha went back & called her sister Mary, and told her privately, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him...The Jews who with her in the house... followed her...When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord. come and see." Jesus began to weep. - John 11: 28-44

Mary's Faith and Jesus's Love & Grief

In this passage, we see several things happening...

(1) Because she knew him well, Mary - and Martha, in yesterday's passage - knew that Jesus could have prevented her brother from dying. She doesn't say she wished he had been able, she is convinced. She knows without doubt.

(2) Jesus, who loves Mary, is moved by her grief and the grief of the Jews who came with her. Not only does he empathize, he begins to grieve, too.

(3) When they offer to show Jesus where his friend, Lazarus, has been laid, Jesus begins to grieve even more, and weeps because of it.

Journal Prompts for Your Morning Quiet Time: Becoming Mary

Slow faith idea: during your next morning quiet time, settle in with a cup of tea and grab your journal. Use these journal prompts to grow your faith.

In this passage, Mary demonstrates a deep and powerful faith in and tender, loving relationship with Jesus. They are friends, and we see their close connection.

As you connect with Jesus each day, he wants that same deep and loving friendship with you, loves you just as tenderly and you can trust that he is there for you when you are hurt, troubled or grieving.

This story, in which Jesus shows us what God is like, demonstrates that God grieves with you. Even when He knows the good ending He has planned for your story.

So here are the journal prompts to take with you into your quiet time with God...

(1) What is on your heart right now that you wish would change or come to an end? Is life handing you anything that grieves or frustrates you?

(2) What would it mean in your life to think of God still writing your story, planning a powerfully good ending you just can't yet see?

(3) How does it feel to know that God empathizes with everything you are feeling about your situation, and grieves with you, even though He knows the resolution is coming?

(4) Mary had full faith that Jesus would have been able to save her brother's life and heal him. How can you have Mary's faith in your situation?

(5) We know that Mary spent time with Jesus, developing a close relationship with him. Are you spending enough quiet time with God?

More Resources for Developing Mary's Faith

Next month's JeanineLetter (my free newsletter) will be about how to develop Mary's faith by creating an adoration quiet time. And there are other quiet time resources already in the lifestyle library.

Join us by clicking on one of the highlighted links in the paragraph above. It's free, and I'd love to have you.

Wishing you Mary's faith in a sometimes doubt-filled world.

Love, Jeanine

4 Comments

Lent & Lazarus: The Bigger Picture

4/12/2019

2 Comments

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ... So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." But when Jesus heard it, he said, "This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God's glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this, he said to His disciples, "Let is go to Judea again." ... When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. ... When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him ... Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him." ... Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live..." - John 11: 1-27

I read this passage today, and noticed once again, that even with stories I have known for years, I sometimes hear them differently at different moments in my life. I believe that God nudges me to point out whatever might be most relevant to my life at the time.

Today, I thought about the larger picture. The slow faith, big picture we often can't see from the ground, in our lives. Martha got a glimpse of it, in that story, and I wonder if we can find ways to keep our eyes on it, too.

The Story of Lazarus & The Bigger Picture

Have you ever seen The Princess Bride? I hope I am remembering this correctly, but there's a moment where it is said about Wesley, both that he was only mostly dead, but also that he had been mostly dead, all day.

In the movie, Wesley recovers his life moment by moment and is finally, come fully back to himself and is able to save the day. But that was when he was only mostly dead.

In the Lazarus story, we have an actual death, and he comes back to life in a single moment of Jesus's healing. But then, Jesus had the power of God as his disposal.

Still, both stories point to the fact that even when it seems like the story is over, in the bigger picture, there may still be plenty of story left. And that, along with the echoes of Easter's dying and rising, is the point I want to make today...

Whenever a situation seems dead in the water - when your worst story seems to have come to an awful end - know that there may be a rising, a stunning reversal, just around the corner.

Or a new path you'd never have seen or found, may open up to you; one that's meant for you and finally there after walking through the pain of your current story.

Jesus loved Lazarus! But instead of coming right away, and healing him while he was only sick, he allowed Lazarus to die, knowing that story's true end, and wanting for Mary and Martha something even more powerful than immediate healing for Lazarus.

Because he waited, Mary and Martha experienced a miracle and a deepening of their faith, as did many around them who saw or heard what happened.

Even the death someone he loved very much was not a problem too hard for Jesus. Which means there's nothing in your life that you can't offer up to God and know that He's got your back.

The waiting, for resolution, for peace, may feel horrible! And you may be tempted to count Him out. To assume it's all over.

But reach for faith, that even while your faith feels like it is dying, God may have a resurrection planned.

And He is definitely up to something. Even when you can't see it yet, and can't yet see the bigger picture.

For surely, I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart. - Jeremiah 29: 11-13

This is the story of Easter. But also a story that I believe we experience again and again in our lives.

The ending we think we see, in our story, is not really the end. The real ending is still on the way.

Can you relate to that, right now, in your own life? Is there a story you wish would resolve, already? Know that you are still in the dying phase. The rising is on the way.

Have a wonderful weekend!

And come back tomorrow for part two on the Lazarus story. In it, I offer ways to grow your faith using the next part of this story & journal prompts for exploring it.

We'll look at Mary's faith for inspiration and connect with Jesus's love for us.

See you then!

Love, Jeanine

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Decluttering Tips for Getting Started

What about You?

A Creative Retelling, from John 20

The Grief and the Glory

5 Things I Learned During Lent this Year

What Does Easter Mean to You?

Shifting the Way You See Yourself

How to Create Sabbath Simplicity in Your Life

A Gift for You

What is Sabbath Simplicity?

My Own Plan for Sabbath Simplicity

Are You a Night Owl?

The Slow Morning Solution: Don't Force Yourself to Get Going too Quickly

Slow Mornings & Morning Tea

Morning Tea Rituals

How Do You Want Your Mornings to Feel?

What are Slow Mornings?(+ What Do Your Mornings Need?)

The Slow Living Series

The Slow Living Series

Finding Our Own Pace & Cadence

3 Ways to Shift into a Slow Living,Listening Connection with God

The Slow Living Lifestyle & Philosophy

3 Slow Living Books I Recommend

The Slow Living Series

Read These Blog Posts for More Slow Faith

Mary's Faith and Jesus's Love & Grief

Journal Prompts for Your Morning Quiet Time: Becoming Mary

More Resources for Developing Mary's Faith

The Story of Lazarus & The Bigger Picture

Jeanine Byers

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3 Ways to Shift into a Slow Living,
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