Quiet Time

This morning was a typical morning… Coffee, quiet, prayer and deep thoughts. I am one of those people that needs my quiet time. Reflection and prayer have found their places within my quiet time, spending a few moments reflecting on my goals, giving the things that I am struggling with to God and planning my day in the early morning hours bring a peace to my soul that wasn’t there for a very long time.

I haven’t always prayed nor have I given myself that time in the mornings when my kids were young… it’s hard to carve out 5 minutes let alone 10 or 15 when the kids are waking up… everyone is in a rush to get breakfast and out the door or to start the day. Trust me I was that mom… I got up 5-10 minutes before I started waking my kids… and then it was a mad rush to get everyone to day care/school before I had to be at work. Add into the equation children with special needs (think bipolar mood swings), answering never-ending questions, lost shoes, back packs and just kids in general… even with set routines everyday was an adventure in patience.

As my children got older things got a little better in terms of not arguing and getting where we all needed to be when we needed to be there. It took some concentrated effort on my part to build those habits (it wasn’t something that I learned in my youth). Both my sister and I struggled with this and overcame the obstacles. It takes about 21 days to build a new habit/routine…

I used the Fly Lady system for a while but honestly it was causing a lot of stress and anxiety in our everyday lives.

 

 

Rick tends to look at things like that as annoyances and he just doesn’t understand and is very verbal about it. He grew up in a home that was organized and run like clock work where as I grew up in one that was semi organized chaos … with lots of emotions etc…

I NEED quiet time

Quiet time means different things to different people. For me it means:

• The ability to think without interruption
• The ability to pray without interruption
• No TV, radio, computers, phones, etc…
• The ability to read my bible and pray without feeling like I should be doing something else

As my children moved out and our nest became empty my routine became a lot easier, mind you Rick tends to not be a morning person, so I normally make the coffee and give the gentle reminder about what time it is so that he isn’t late for work.

I write a lot during the early morning hours after spending time with God, my coffee and my planner.

I found that using a planner really helps me to stay on track as well as makes me accountable to myself.

I bought a Happy Planner like this one.

 

I will say that it has been a life saver for me, I can make notes of my THM journey as well as everything else that is happening within my life.

I do use stickers, Washi tape and my bible journaling supplies to make it more enjoyable for me. I also invested in the home management pack they offer for menu planning as well as chore lists so that I’m not annoying my husband with all my post it notes. it sounds a bit over the top but honestly organizing my time takes so much stress out of our daily lives that it’s worth it.