Home re-set

Last week I found myself in need of a re-set. After weeks of traveling, giving talks, and then hitting parent's weekend in Mississippi, I finally sat down with the Lord and made some adjustments.

My interior rhythm has been off. When work comes before family, and laundry piles up because mom is out of town, things slowly go awry. Nesting is not only for the pregnant. I think all women feel the desire to nest; to create home.

And for the record, I am not talking about a Joanna Gaines home. I am talking about swept floors, snacks in the cabinets, and a warm dinner when my kids and husband return home. And maybe some clean underwear in the dresser drawers.

My re-set involved three days of doing very little other than prayer, being present to my family, walking the dogs, reading good books, listening to Catholic podcasts on the treadmill, and cleaning the house. It was glorious.

As travel starts back up, I am keeping this new schedule close, doing my best to put home before work. What has helped tremendously has been putting my phone where I can't see it. This article was the final encouragement that I needed to wave a final goodbye to my virtual friends and their make-believe lives so that I could start living the one real life I have been gifted with. This too has been glorious.

If you are prone to scroll the hours away, might I suggest replacing those hours with a good book?

Anyway, I share this with any woman struggling to keep a clean house while holding down a job and wondering why something inside feels off. Sit with the Lord, and ask Him to show you what needs to go, what needs to change, and what needs to be your priority.

As for myself, I will continue to write and travel to speak, only after I have tended to my first vocation as a wife and mother. I used to think there were not enough hours in the day to do both well...and then I got off of social media and the heavens opened and I discovered the MANY hours in each day!!!! Hours to FINISH the piles of books, hours to create on Patreon, hours to get out the baking pans...because it is feeling like baking weather, after all. But note: I am not implying that we can or should try to do it all well. We were not created to do it all. Ever. Having it all and doing it all is a myth. Not to mention exhausting.

What in your life feels off? Where can you use a re-set? Do you struggle with trying to balance work, wifehood, and motherhood? Carve out time to pray today (yes, you do have the time) and bring your restlessness to God. He WILL answer you. But I will warn you...you might not like His answer.