Rhythms, Routines and Rituals -The life giving home series
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One of the best books to read as a christian mother, is the life giving home. It is an amazing book that will guide you in creating a home for your family. In order to help you go through the book, I am creating this series.
More about The Life Giving Home
Before we dive into the first chapter, let’s take a closer book at the entire book. What is it about and why should you read it?
The life giving home was written by Sally and Sarah Clarkson, they are mother and daughter and wrote this book together. They take turns writing a chapter and it’s really nice to read the perspective from two different writers, who have very similar thoughts.
In the book, they talk about how to create a home that is fun to be in, a joy to be a part of and that gives life to those who come into it. They take you on a journey of creating a lifegiving home, but do so in small and manageable steps.
Trying to transform your home within a month is exhausting, overwhelming and absolutely impossible. But changing one or two things each month will transform your home and life completely. And that is what Sarah and Sally try to accomplish in this excellent book.
January – Rhythms Routines and Rituals
A fresh start
There is just something about a new year that makes me excited to create all sorts of plans. It’s a fresh start. A moment to re-evaluate what is important to you, your family and your home. And start working from there.
One thing I would suggest doing is take a look at your past year and see what went well and what did not. What made it go well? What would you have liked to accomplish? etc.
Once you have looked at last year, start working towards goals for the new year. Think about goals for all three of the previously mentioned areas; you, your family and your home (but add in more areas if you feel led to!).
It’s a fresh start, so write down all the things you would like to accomplish!
If you need help with setting goals, I suggest reading my post about setting goals as a stay at home mom!
Make the goals tangible
Once you have decided what you would like your goals to be, it is time to make them more tangible. I often see people set goals they can not measure or simply cannot accomplish.
‘Having a nice home’ is not a great goal. Of course you want our home to be nice, and that is perfect to work towards. But what are you actually going to do to become just that? It’s all about the actions you take!
So instead of writing down ‘having a nice home’, write down action steps like:
– Make sure my counter is clean before I go to bed every night
– Declutter the home room by room.
– Light a candle every night at dinner
– etc.
So start by turning your goals into action steps. Those steps will bring you closer to the goal, not the goal itself.
Creating new routines
The fun part begins! It is time to create new routines. Once you know what you want your home to become more of, it is time to reflect those things in your routines.
If one of your goals is to spend more time with your children, create routines around that goal. Start adding in one on one time before bed if you don’t already do that. Or set aside 10 minutes before dinner to set the table and light some candles together.
The trick here is to add in small changes at a time and to habit stack them on top of other habits. Are you already reading a book before bed? Stack the habit of taking some one-on-one time right after that. It will make it a lot easier to stick to the new added habit.
Some ideas of routines to work on given in the book:
- Devotional routine
- Mealtime routine
- Household routine
- Morning blessing
- Reading hour routine
- Routine for closing the day
Personally, I am going to work on a morning blessing routine. This involves blessing the children each morning and telling them how much I love them. It gives them a great start of the day.
And I will also implement a reading hour routine in 2023. Our children are 7, 4 and 1. So they are starting to learn to read and are very interested in learning things in general (aren’t all the kids though?!). So reading more as a family seems to be a fun way to end the day!
Take it one step at a time
One thing to be aware of when you are working on your goals and routines for the new year, is to not take too many steps at a time. Nobody can change their entire day and stick to it day after day.
So implement small changes, or do one or two big changes at a time. No need to rush through this process! And you can keep working on new routines in the months to come.
You might also like
Setting goals as a stay at home mom
Why habit stacking works so well
The entire Life Giving Home Series posts
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