Making Your Quiet Times Happen this Year – Even When You Can’t Get Up in the Morning by Jennifer Schwilling

Reading the Bible and praying more is right at the top of Christian womens’ goals and resolutions lists, up there with getting organized and losing weight.  Unfortunately, just like organizing and weight loss aspirations, our best plans and intentions to have daily devotions or quiet times tend to fizzle a few weeks into the year.  What happens?  We’re convinced of the value of spending time getting to know our God through His word.  We’re convinced of the power of prayer in our lives and others’.  How does something this important and desirable keep slipping through the cracks in our days?

One of the ways we unintentionally keep something from happening is making it too difficult or complicated.  Do you admire a friend who is able to read her Bible an hour or two a day?  Or a friend who studies Greek daily?  A favorite author who writes about watching the sun rise as she prays over her day?  All of these things may be good, but do they work for you at this point of your life?  Maybe you have three small children running around and 1 – 2 hours of uninterrupted reading time just isn’t going to happen.  Maybe you are anything but a morning person.  In your mind is anything less than your “ideal” quiet time not worth doing?  In other words, are you making it more difficult than it needs to be?

All you really need to have your quiet time are three things:  A time, a place, and your “stuff” Read more

Sleep to Succeed: A Lesson in Productivity

Ever feel that there are not enough hours in the day? Oh! I do! There just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day sometimes. With your schedule, something always gets put off until tomorrow. In order to catch up, you might be tempted to work longer but that will have the opposite effect.

When your schedule runs long or you have a pressing project at work, the first thing that enters your mind is that you can come in early or stay late to get it done. The problem with that idea is that the rest of your routine will suffer. There will be less, if any, time for your family. From the point that you steal time from one area to benefit another, you will be playing catch up. Read more

Take Time to Write EVERYTHING Down!

What do you want for this year? Think for a moment with me… Next year, this time, what do you want to see different in your life? What would you like to see finished? What would you like to see accomplished this year?

Dear friend, this year is the year of fullness. I have committed to make this year a year of commitment, accomplishment, and productivity. Want to make this year the very best ever too? Let’s find some keys to productivity. Let’s dig in and get moving strong. Ready? Well, today let’s look at one of my biggest keys to productivity…

Take time to write EVERYTHING down!

Talk about a key to productivity! If there were one thing that I really believe makes the difference in my own productivity, it is this one discipline. I know, I know what you may be thinking… Read more

This Year Start Little, See Big Results

House cleaning. Let’s face it. It’s a necessary evil if you want your home to be liveable and pleasant to be in.  You want to be able to have guests and that may not be possible if your house is always a mess.  When it comes to cleaning, you don’t have to deep clean every day.  You can start little and see big results in no time.

One of the easiest ways to start small and get something accomplished is to work while you’re watching television.  Commercials take two to five minutes every fifteen minutes of a television show.  Why not take that time and go through stacks of mail, fold a load of laundry, clean out a desk drawer, or wash a few dishes.  If you do this during each commercial break, you can see big results in just one evening of watching your favorite television shows. Read more

Secrets to Help You Stay Focused in 2009 by Cindy Rushton

Anybody else battle with distractions and interruptions? Do you want to stick to the things that are on your heart, yet realistically battle with staying focused?

Oh! I TOTALLY relate! In fact, the past few months, my heart-cry has been to stay focused. Everywhere I have turned, I have heard messages on staying focused…saw articles on being focused…and talked with my friends about being focused. As a result, I have found a few great secrets that have really helped me to stay focused on the most important things in my life and get more done at the same time. Want to know those secrets? Well, let’s dig in…

BEGIN EACH DAY WITH A QUIET TIME…

I know what you just thought…”BUT! Cindy, that gets me off track for the day!”  Read more

Decorating For Thanksgiving Last Minute?

Ready for this week? Are you like so many of us and you have been busy today cleaning up and getting ready for the big week? Need some fun and inexpensive ideas for those last touches? Let us help!

Decorating for Thanksgiving adds an element of warmth and fun to your home. The best thing is you don’t have to go overboard or put a lot of time or effort into this. Use a few of the suggestions below, add some fall colored throw pillows or blankets to your couch, light a pumpkin scented candle and your whole house will have that special Thanksgiving feel to it.
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Planning the Family Thanksgiving Meal the EASY WAY!

The family unanimously decided that you are in charge of the Thanksgiving meal this year. Can you pull it off? Yes, with a little bit of planning ahead of time, you can throw a great family Thanksgiving get together without stressing or staying busy for weeks. The key is advanced planning

Step 1: Make A Guest List.
It’s next to impossible to determine how much food to buy and cook without knowing how many mouths you will be feeding. Contact friends and family early and request they RSVP by a certain date. Follow up with them in the weeks before Thanksgiving to make sure you know who is and isn’t coming. Plan for at least 2 extra guests – more if you are entertaining a larger crowd.
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The Importance of Routine by Cindy Rushton

Good morning dearies! I just got an email from Mary Beth asking me to share this article. She remembered reading it before, but couldn’t remember where to find it. She asked if I could post it here. YES! Hope all of you enjoy! This is an oldie. Fun to read now that my crew are grown and graduated. I could not recommend better tips today. This one is timeless. Enjoy….

Homeschools come packaged in all sorts and types.  Homes all have their own atmosphere…their own discipline…and their own life.  What will make for happy homeschool days?  My vote goes to routine!

As we look at different homes, we find that many people use many instruments to establish discipline.  In our home, we have used primarily two tools–instruction and routine!  You can probably see the need and benefits for instruction but why routine?  Routine is the means by which we lay down the tracks of discipline.  In our family routines, we take away much of the pain of who does what, when they are to do whatever, and how much they are to do.  It has become part of our character to do all that we do with excellence…diligence…and of course, speed!  So, what are some ideas for bringing routine into the home?  The following thoughts are a hodgepodge of my thoughts on routine and form that I have jotted down as I studied this month… Read more

The Importance of Routine by Cindy Rushton

Homeschools come packaged in all sorts and types.  We find that homes all have their own atmosphere…their own discipline…and their own life.  What will make for happy homeschool days?  My vote goes to routine!

As we look at different homes, we find that many people use many instruments to establish discipline in our studies.  In our home, we have used primarily two tools…instruction and routine. You can probably see the need and benefits for instruction when you are homeschooling but why routine?

Routine is the means by which we lay down the tracks of discipline. Read more

Easy Homemaking Ideas for the Domestically Challenged by Cindy Rushton

Domestically challenged? Need help with homemaking? Doing fine with homemaking, but it just takes ALL DAY LONG? Oh! I completely understand. I love my home. I love my family. It is very important to manage my home well. It makes our house a a home.

Reality of it all is that I don’t do a great job balancing it all if any one area gets out of balance. I need to keep homemaking easy so I can focus on what is most important to me–building relationships with my husband, children, family, and friends. So, how do you do it? Here are some things that have helped me along the way… Read more

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