Living Above Worry and Stress

Sometimes I think about what to write for a couple of days. The ideas swirl around my head, they never come out like I thought they would. Other days I just start to write. Which is today. I was going to write about the kids but have this desire to write about stress. My dearest girlfriends and I meet once a month to go through this book. Its rather easy reading, nothing super heavy. About the speed we all want late at night when the kids are in bed. But sometimes the easier reads are exactly the reminders that God wants us to have. The reminder to step back from our busy lives and put our focus on where its most important. On God, our families and our church lives.

Being at home can cause you to be too busy with small obsessions, the state of your house, the clothes that you buy your children, your garden, your tv even your books. These things are okay on their own but when your focus is on them all the time its not. We talked about stress in your life, how to deal with this and how to put your focus on God and your family. I came home feeling motivated to change some of the things I do. To cut back on some things to make room for the more imporant ones. Like focusing on my family and on my personal relationship with God. I will admit, my house at the moment is not as clean as it usually is. But its okay. We've been to the park, we've played outside and we've worked in the garden. The dog has been walked more this week than in the last month, Drew and I have sat outside in the back before dinner. And tonight we're having a date night. A night out for dinner and some shopping, to spend a gift certificate at Chapters. With a coffee in one hand and our other to hold books and just be together. To have friends challenge you to look at your life, and to set your priorities is a blessing.



My gardens coming to life! The first spring in this house is exciting for me. As I have planted nothing in the garden I get the wonderful surprises of what someone else has planted. We seemed to have similar taste, I'm loving everything. These flowers (above) are scattered throughout the front. When I step onto my porch I smell them before I see them. They are my favorite at the moment! This week I was reminded to enjoy these small things as well. To stop and smell the roses is an expression we often say but to actually stop. Its a beautiful thing!