Kickstart to Clutter Free - Day 2

Today's area of focus from Kathi was 25 items from the surfaces in your bedroom...and I knew exactly what area I needed to tackle...and I am so embarrassed to post this photo of what the top of my dresser has looked like for way too long...

 I started by taking everything off the dresser and immediately throwing away the garbage (that padded envelope on top of the wooden jewelry box? the date on it was September 2014!) Once everything was off the dresser, the next step was...

...DUST!! Yep, that is disgusting, ew...

One thing I knew I needed to tackle was all the long necklaces I have acquired. So I enlisted the help of my handy son who put together a necklace hanger for my closet. With a few wooden door knobs and a scrap piece of wood from our garage, I now have this...

...a perfect place to store all of my long necklaces!

Before I put things back on top of my dresser, I dusted everything off and determined whether it was a keeper or a giveaway item. Then I started putting things back in their new places.

And here is the after! I can't even believe that this is actually the top of my dresser!

If this doesn't convince you to give Kathi's method a try, I am not sure what will! I still have 12 days to go on this challenge and will be sharing with you the before and after as I go through each step.

Stay tuned for Day 3!

Kickstart to Clutter Free - Day 1

There is nothing like traveling on a Compassion trip to realize how filled our homes are with stuff.

Now don't get me wrong...there are 'things' in my home that I love:

My piano that I learned to play on many years ago...

My library of books that give me an opportunity to sit with a cup of tea...

My KitchenAide mixer that helps me prepare many baked goods for my family and friends...

My family photos which remind me of many memories...

But there are many things in my home that distract me and cause me grief:

The piles of paper...

The unorganized craft items...

The clothes in my closet I haven't worn in years...

One book, though, has truly helped me look at clutter in my home with new eyes...

Clutter Free by Kathi Lipp 

After I read this book over the summer, I immediately cleared out a full bookcase of books. For people who know me in real life, they know that this was a huge step for me! 

So last week, when I learned that Kathi has launched a Kickstart to Clutter Free eCourse, I knew I wanted to sign up!

Her promise is to help you remove 500 things from your home in 14 days.

Today, I tackled Day 1 of the course...remove 100 pieces of paper!

I had quite a collection of sales flyers from Christmas sales that needed to be tossed.

The bulk of the paper in our home is contained in these files. Old bills. Yep, I had old bills in these files from 2011.

I started to shred these old bills and other paper items with our address on them...well, that is until the shredder started to overheat and stopped working, yikes! Guess I need a better system to handling these old bills.

The good news though...Day 1 of this Kickstart to Clutter Free challenge has been a success!! Over 100 pieces of paper are now in the recycle bin, phew!

So tomorrow, Day 2, the challenge is to remove 25 things from my bedroom.

Do you think this challenge is for you? Be sure to check out Kathi's web site. She can help you clear the clutter from your home so you can have more time and resources to focus on things you love.

My One Word for 2016

Ever since I saw The War Room movie, there is one thing I have been wanting to do more of. If you have seen The War Room movie, I am sure you can guess what that one thing is:

Photo courtesy of Compassion International

Over the past couple of months, I have read through The Battle Plan for Prayer book and want to work on making prayer a more focused part of my Christian walk, each and every day.

Webster's 1828 dictionary defines 'pray' as:

"In worship, to address the Supreme Being with solemnity and reverence, with adoration, confession of sins, supplication for mercy, and thanksgiving for blessings received."

Today, I was out doing a bit of shopping and saw 1 Thessalonians 5:17 on a plaque and I just knew I needed to choose 'pray' as my One Word for 2016.

Will it be an easy word to focus on?

Probably not...but I know I want a deeper, more intimate relationship with Jesus. What better way to do this than through having conversations with Him all through the day.

Have you chosen One Word for 2016?

Planning ahead for next Christmas

For the first time in three years, I ordered prints of our most recent family photos, put together a quick recap of our year, and actually mailed out Christmas cards to family and friends. 

As much as I loved putting together this peek into our family, I actually started working on Christmas cards the day after Christmas last year.

What do you mean you started last Christmas??

The Christmas cards we started on last Christmas were not cards for family or friends.

The Christmas cards we started on last Christmas were for people we may never meet.

For the past few years, we have worked on Christmas cards for Compassion's unsponsored children. During the year, we get together with sponsors from our church family to work on adding Bible verses and signing lots of Christmas cards. Some of the kids like to make homemade cards and we love to send those along too.

Want to participate with your family next year?

Stock up on Christmas cards while they are on sale this week, or start collecting supplies to make cards through the year.

Set aside time to meet up with other sponsors to work on the cards through the year.

Collect the cards until next fall when we receive instructions on when and to whom to mail the Christmas cards.

Can I issue you a challenge?

In 2015, the Child Correspondence department at Compassion sent out 20,001 cards to unsponsored children for Christmas. This was a record breaking number!

20,001 Christmas Cards!!

You can help make next year another record breaking year!

By planning ahead for next Christmas, you can brighten a child's day with a special reminder that God loves them on Christmas Day.

Choosing to be grateful

The weekend before Thanksgiving, I decided to bake up a batch of Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars to share with some friends we were going to be seeing the next day. I turned on the oven and pulled out all the ingredients to start putting this yumminess together. Once I had the bottom crust ready for the oven, I saw that the oven was only at 123 degrees.

There was no way this recipe was going to bake in an oven at that temperature!

So I sent a text to a neighbor, who thankfully was home and willing to let me use her oven. Meanwhile, my husband started checking into what could be the problem with the oven.

I was able to get my baking finished, but the conclusion was...the oven was not working!

Now you have to understand a couple of things...we are a 'if it can be fixed, fix it' type of family. We still have a dryer that is about 20 years old, because it works. We are probably the last family in the country who purchased a flat screen TV because our big, heavy one was still working until just a couple of months ago.

But the biggie right now for me...I love to bake!! And to not have an oven right before Thanksgiving...baking is how I survive the cold weather!!

{taking a deep breath}

However, I was not hosting Thanksgiving...

My neighbors were willing to let me borrow their ovens for the couple of items I was bringing to Thanksgiving at my sister's house...

I have other ways to prepare and cook food for my family...

Then I received a big surprise last week...I am one of about 400 people who have been selected to be part of the launch team for Kristen Welch's new book, Raising Grateful Kids. 

If I want my children to choose to be grateful, I need them to see me embrace being grateful, whatever the circumstances. 

Yes, it stinks that my oven is not working. But I have seen more joy on the faces of people who have much less than I do. And when I remember what I have been blessed to see and experience, I need to not give into my selfish tendencies and choose to live differently.

Now, I am not perfect. My ugly self rears itself more often than I would like.

But this life is a journey, and on this journey we have much to learn.

Moment by moment, we can choose to be grateful.