Challenges – Blessings Multiplied

One of my goals in 2011 is to simplify my life more by enjoying the blessings and not wasting what God has given us. I have been sharing with you the successes and challenges on those specific areas in my life as I go through them. One of the areas I am working on is making the best use of my time. While spending time hosting family and friends in our home is important to me I must also make sure there is time on the schedule to spend with my immediate family. The girls are growing up fast and the times we have together are precious. In order to make sure I don’t go overboard I am setting a goal for myself and asking for your help to keep me in line.

Here are the current challenges I am working on:

First Life Simplified Goal: No Grocery Shopping
Second Life Simplified Goal: Meal Delivery
Third Life Simplified Goal: Organize & De-Clutter our Home
Fourth Life Simplified Goal: Hosting in our Home

Explanation of the Goal: As a family of four we LOVE hosting people in our home! We are blessed to have a home to share with family and friends whether it is for a party, game night or just to hang out together. I would probably host a get together several times a week if we had the time, money, and energy to do it. Part of learning how to simplify my life is making decisions on what to do with my time. Hosting typically requires time for cleaning, cooking, prepping, and/or decorating for guests. It is my goal to host at least one other family in our home once a month but no more than four. When I spend time hosting that means I must give up some for something else. Having up to 4 hosting events in our home means that there will be time to spend together as a family of four. I want my girls to have the experience of hosting even at a young age. Sharing our home and their toys is a valuable skill they can learn at an early age, but they like anyone, need a time to relax and refresh.

We have already started working on this goal. We had 3 families of three over in the month of January. February is a busier month in our household not because of Valentine’s day but because we will be hosting the girls birthday party. One of the many benefits to having twins or higher multiples is their birthday parties hit at the same time. Brina and Karlie’s birthday party will be our major event this month and we have at least one other hosting event already on the schedule.

I will share with you the challenges, successes, and updates as I go through this journey so you can keep me accountable or even go through it with me by participating and sharing your story. Taking the extra time to invest in the lives of others is important to our family. I hope that we have been able to host many people in our home without going over board. It is important to me to make time for my family on the weekends as well as the people around us!

Life Simplified is a series on getting rid of the extras in our life while learning how to enjoy what God has given us so we can continue to be a blessing to others. Our homes can quickly start are bursting with “stuff” and if you are like us we just have too much. I am doing a series on ways we are learning to simplifying our food, homes, and lives. When our hearts, lives, and homes get too cluttered we may start missing out on opportunities to serve and bless the people around us.

Photo by MaryTClark

Every new year we set goals, challenge ourselves to reach new heights and to focus on what’s really important in life. In 2011 I have made it a goal to simplify my life more by enjoying the blessings and not wasting what God has given me. I will be sharing with you the successes and challenges on those specific areas in my life as I go through them.

First Life Simplified Goal:

No Grocery Shopping (except for necessities) in the month of January.

Explanation of the Goal: My goal during the month of January is to not shop for groceries other than necessities (milk, eggs, bread). Our freezer is full and our pantry is overflowing with all the great deals that we have received. One of the reason for the goal is that I want to use the items I have and not waste them. Stockpiling is wonderful but there may come a point when we need to eat through that stockpile before it expires, save the extra money to work on a financial goal, and be creative with what we have at home. I have been thinking about this challenge for several weeks after doing Operation Christmas Child and other charities over the Holidays it really hit me that we have been blessed yet there are children and families that have nothing. Menu planning may take a little extra creative thinking on my part but I think I can do it. If I do purchase something it needs to meet one of the following criteria:

FREE – I don’t want to waste free grocery coupons that my family will use while doing this goal
Necessity – Milk, Eggs, Bread, etc…
For Someone Else outside of my household. For example I make meals for new Moms in our church and if I need to pick up an item for them on the way to deliver a meal that will be an exception.

I have already started this goal. The only things I have purchased this month so far have been a loaf of bread and 2 gallons of milk. Last week we ate a bunch of leftovers for several days after my our family guests left since our fridge was full and we don’t want to waste the food we have. It takes a little more time and focus to come up with a menu but everyone seems to be doing pretty well. The real challenge will come at the end of the month when we are getting low in the pantry and when we host guests!

I will share with you the challenges, successes and what I had to purchase so you can keep me accountable or even go through the journey with me by participating and sharing your story. I would love to extend this goal into February if I can make our pantry stretch!