Discipline

It's time for another "serious" post about my life, my deep thoughts and my ponderings.  You were waiting for one, weren't you?  It was inevitable after a series of short picture-only posts. ;-)

Day-to-day life for this mother of three is nothing short of chaos.  I do take some comfort in knowing that I am not the only mother who lives with such chaos, but on the other hand this chaos that has become my life isn't what I want for me or my family.  We each have our own paths to holiness, and this is mine.  I accept.

This year I hope to embrace my vocation more fully.  The mothers I look up to all seem to have lives similar to mine- young kids who like to scream and yell, dirty sinks, piles of laundry, husbands who work all day- but they also seem to radiate holiness.  (I know it's funny because some of y'all will be reading this and wondering if you are one of those moms!)  They seem to possess a true joy and satisfaction despite the chaos, and it makes me want that.  I have felt that joy before, when my life was less complicated.  I have been in the state of joy where everything I did and said was the work of the Holy Spirit, so I know what it's like!  And I miss it!

I know it's not out of my reach, I know that true joy is only in JESUS and am ready to give him what he needs to work in my life.  Well... Maybe. It's going to be hard to give him things I am so comfortable with... saying "no" when I should say yes.  Choosing to surf the internet instead of take care of my home.  Taking the easy route instead of the better route.  But my children and husband are worth these changes.  My soul is worth these changes.

So a word I've brought up before on my blog (some past Lent...) is discipline.  What a dirty word for me!  But yeah, I need some...

I hope to follow Elizabeth Foss and Danielle Bean's Small Steps for Catholic Moms book, a page a day.  One small step at a time.

I am also most likely going to start an online book club for A Mother's Rule of Life.  I'm mostly finished reading this book and have a lot of great notes to type of for anyone else to read, use, and follow along with. It's a Catholic book, but I think it would be great for any Christian mom, especially homeschoolers!  If you want to be a part of this book club, I will be forming a private blog, so send me an email and I'll invite you to join.

I also want to incorporate more music into my day.  Christian music inspires me so much, I feel like having it playing in the background will help me keep a focused, level head on a more regular basis.  My kids also seem to do really well with background noise, so maybe this will help their behavior?  We'll see.  I do usually tear up when Beth starts singing along though, so maybe I'll spend more time crying, I might have to rethink this in a couple of weeks!

I'll check in here every couple of weeks with a special update on how things are going.  Accountability is a good thing for me!  I'm interested to hear if any one of my readers feels called to change any specific aspect of their lives this year, or has any encouragement to offer to me.  I know I have a lot of readers, I've seen my page stats, so it's time to come out of the woodwork and talk to me!