Moms Giveaway & Upcoming Online Study

A heartfelt welcome to those here after reading my devotion at Proverbs 31 Ministries or on Crosswalk.com. If you haven’t read it yet, click here. Be sure to come back for a giveaway & announcement!

So, have your hats got you frustrated?

Wife, mother, lover, chauffeur, cook, maid, worker, referee, nurse, counselor, and Facebook friend!?!?!

Tired of switching back and forth throughout the day?

Growing weary of the delicate balancing act that nearly topples them all over and sends your emotions crashing too?

Ever want to chuck them all, let your hair down, grab a good novel and head for the beach…..all alone!!

Try these 5 tips for Maxed Out Moms:

~Make your motto “I’ll do what is next, not what is easy.” Too many times we gravitate toward what is easiest rather than what most needs attention.

But activity does not always equal productivity. Determine the next chore that should be tackled. Then, get started on it, even if it is unpleasant. You’ll gain momentum from just getting out of the chutes.

~Plate Scrape. Twenty years of parenting has taught me an important lesson about moms who do too much. We must plate scrape.

Ask yourself why you are doing what you do. Is it to be liked? To appear to be Wonder Woman? To feel needed and included? Because you’ve always done that task or held that position?

Hold your too-full plate up to God, ask His opinion then get a rubber scraper and rid your schedule of what He has not called you to.

~ Don’t Freak Out. Instead, Farm Out or Opt Out. Don’t try to wow your friends and amaze the church ladies with how you “do it all”. It will make you freak out. Realize is okay to farm some things out. And sometimes, to opt out all together!

Whenever someone seems to imply that they don’t know how I “do it all”, I look them straight in the eye and say, “Why honey….I don’t even try!”

Yes, I am a homeschool mom of three. One is grown. The other two have co-op classes taught by other parents as well as me & a weekly math tutor who is worth her weight in dark chocolate. I do what I can do (speak & write) to get money to pay her to do what I can’t (Algebra & Geometry). This, I farm out.

Secondly, I do not scrapbook. When I tried, it was pitiful. My kids’ books? Partially finished. But hey, all my childhood pictures are in an old trunk in my mom’s house and I haven’t needed professional therapy. I love looking at others’ scrapbooks and am in awe at their talent! It just isn’t my gig. On this one, I opt out.

Housework? I don’t clean bathrooms or do laundry. My theory is that if a 12-year-old can work an Xbox controller, they can run the washing machine and fling a toilet brush! These tasks? Farm out to the kiddos.

You see ladies, trying to “do it all” will only do yourself in. Pick what you are gifted at and hire, beg or barter to accomplish the rest. Hey, even the woman in Proverbs 31 had servant girls!

~ Carve out calm. Running at break-neck speed with a frenzy of activity all around makes our spirits restless. Slow down. Get alone. Turn off the noise-making gadgets. Listen to nothingness for a while. God is in the silence.

If you are a mom of young children, find another mother who will partner and swap with you. You take all the kids one morning so she can be alone. The next week swap. This practice saved my sanity when my kids were small & still does now that they are all teens.

~ Don Your Crown First. As I said in the devotion, perhaps the points on our tiaras as daughters of the King keep all the other hats in place. Trying to tuck God in around the edges of our day rarely works.

Time gets away; family fires need to be extinguished; out the window go my best intentions.

My P31 sister Luann Prater recently said in a conference call with our team that when we think of having time alone with just God and our Bibles each day, we must think of the word “non-negotiable”.

Crucial. Mandatory for a successful life. And necessary if we want to keep our hats in balance!

Now, I have two practical take-aways for you today to help you juggle those hats! First, a giveaway!

One gal who comments will receive the following:

~ A copy of Holiday Cooking with Kids by Williams Sonoma.

~ Colorful kitchen gadgets including a rubber spatula, pan scraper and cookie dough ball maker.

~ 2 warm vanilla sugar Bath & BodyWorks melting tarts.

~A signed copy of my book The Complete Guide to Getting & Staying Organized.

~ A fun shirt given to me by a sweet gal at a Hearts at Home conference. The front says “What’s Your Day Look Like?” with the verse Prov. 31:30 on it. The back sports a long list of all the P31 woman did “Get up before dawn. Prepare breakfast. Plant a vineyard. Bring food from afar. Speak kind words. etc….” Size XL

Finally, beginning June 1st, I’ll be hosting a free 4 week online study designed to help busy women get their acts together. What better time to start than at the beginning of summer? Turn those lazy days into an opportunity to finally get your home in order and your time under control!

This will be based on my book The Complete Guide to Getting & Staying Organized. (So if you haven’t got a copy you’ll need to get your hands on one). We’ll have discussions on concepts and ideas in the book (de-junking, time management, handling paper piles, cooking, cleaning, involving kids, etc),  giveaways, practical take-aways, a few evening conference calls, guests and goodies all inspiring you to get those hats, and your homes, in order!

Since this will be done on Facebook, you can hop on at your convenience to comment, enter the giveaways, ask questions and share ideas and struggles. There will be a few evening conference calls that are optional.  And, although we’ll hit the topics from all the chapters, it won’t be tied to a strict reading plan so you can go at your own pace.

If you’d like more information, head over to the Facebook page where this will be happening by clicking here. Click on the “Like” button and you’ll be set!

Get started reading and mark your calendar for June 1st when we launch the official 4 week study! Oh, I can’t wait!!

Now, don’t forget to leave your comment here to be entered in this moms giveaway! Winner announced Monday (along with the winners of this post, and this one too. You can still enter both!)

And finally, if you have a few minutes and want a good laugh, check out my Hats of a Mom skit here. Have a fabulous Mother’s Day!!!

Happy Hat-Juggling!

306 Comments

  1. These thoughts are so timely in keeping our priorities in order and to be organized by putting God first and all else falls into place (with a little planning). Your book must be a treasure trove of wisdom in how to keep a household running smoothly. May God continue to use you in your writing and homeschooling of your children. Love, Kathy

  2. Great reminder to put my crown on first. With a four, three, and one year old I need my Jesus to keep me lovely in the trenches of poo and goo.

  3. What wonderful reminders! I ofter put too much on my plate, needing God’s scraper to leave what He really wants is just what I need to do.

    Thanks for posting – I am looking forward to June 1st!

    Anne

  4. What a wonderful reminder. As a full-time working Mom of two active kids, I really needed this message. I try too often to do everything and to be everything and need to learn to slow down and listen more. Thank you for the message.

  5. I love this post and as the end of our school year melts into summer, it is exactly the reminder I need. I am a single parent so I feel that everything falls on my shoulders. Thanks for reminding me to “plate scrape, farm out or opt out”.
    Blessings….Sheila

  6. I loved this blog. It couldn’t have come at a better time in my life. Thank you for sharing the wisdom about farming out responsibilities. This is so true. Looking forward to reading the organizing book. I love doing this.

  7. Sounds lovely! With 2 kids under five, and one more on the way, I can use some help organizing my schedule!

  8. I sooo needed to read that! I don’t think I even remember how to be organized! I get so caught up in which hat I should have on, that at the end of the day, instead of rejoicing in the riches and blessings He has given me, I am looking for a way to make all my hats dissappear :( I look forward to the upcoming study…thank you for being faithful to His calling in your life!!!

  9. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the hats! I think Amy Grant was right when she wrote the song entitled “Hats”. “Why do I always have to wear so many hats?” Sometimes it seems that we do have to wear so many–too many hats! It’s good to know that by just wearing one very simple and beautiful hat–one that was graciously given to us by our Lord–that all the others, in a way, become obsolete! By just wearing one, we allow The One to work through us to fulfill all of our obligations. God help us all to seek You first so that you may bless and fill us, so we can bless others! They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength!

  10. I think this is a good reminder to daughters as well. Sometimes us children forget just how much our mothers do for us. We have become lazy and complacent instead of taking on responsibilities. I speak more for myself than anybody else.
    I would love to win and give it to my Mom. I think she would really enjoy it!
    Thank you for your blog. I really enjoy reading it.
    God bless you!

  11. Love it! Looking forward to reading your book, as I try and decide how and what to “drop” after our 2nd child joins us in August!

  12. Thanks for this reminder – walking out of my messy house for a few minutes now after a marathon of getting kids out the door to school to spend some time in quiet on the deck. Thanks for the reminder to seek him first and do the dishes, update the calendar, start the laundry 2nd!!!!! PS will have to buy your book – June study on getting organized sounds great!!

  13. Hats and more hats. So many do we wear. The older we get it seems the more hats Moms wear. As the children grow, another hat is added and then grandchildren are added so on goes more hats.

    Really enjoyed this article, Karen!

    And sure could use some help on organization.

  14. I work in a small church school, we always joke around about all the “hats” we wear. We have so much going on in todays world we do need to prioritize often. What a great devotion!

  15. love the hat skit! I’m trying to figure out which plate needs to scraped… I tell my kids “there are a lot of ‘good’ things that need to be done, but that doesn’t mean you have to do them all” Of course I need to take my own advice :)

  16. Read it, put it in your hearts, your mirror, heck put on your rear view mirror in your 2nd home…..Exodus 14:14 says, “The Lord will fight for you, you must be quiet” I needed this to slow me down. I have begun to committ to the Lord my plans and ask for his guidance…even in the little things that I don’t think would “matter to God”. I mean really, is He really THAT interested in providing me patience when my child is driving me slam up the walls as much as the woman crying for help in the hosptial for healing…YES. Thank you father God, my King for looking at everything in my day as important. The more I go the more I understand, I better slow it down.

  17. I just have to say I watched your “hats” skit and it made my day :). Shared it on FB for all those moms out there! Reminded me of the awesome times I have had at Hearts at Home. And just yesterday I had to “scrape my plate” by saying no to something. This was a good reminder for me that it’s ok to do that.

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