Unclutterizing Your Mind

Does your mind feel cluttered with thoughts? Is your spirit weighed down with too many cares? We all have periods during life where we simply have too much in our lives and before we know it our days are cluttered, our minds are cluttered, and our hearts are cluttered. Sometimes our minds are so filled with clutter we can't finish one thought before another one comes up. These thoughts lead to anxiety and sleepless nights. Our society thinks that sleeping pills are the answer. Nope, they are just the bandaid on the problem. Let's look at God's Word for some truth and answers in how to unclutter our minds and hearts.

Matthew 6:19-21 "Don't store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is there the desires of your heart will also be."
What does your heart yearn for? What consumes your thoughts? This is where your treasure lies. Things of this world never satisfy. No matter what we get, we always want more. Think about the last thing you really wanted and actually got. Are you finally content and want nothing more? I didn't think so!
When you start getting into God's Word and truly start experiencing God in your life your desires become more God focused. You become more content and complain less. The satisfaction that comes from putting your treasures in the hands of God is lasting!

1 Peter 5:7 "Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you."
Restless minds come from carrying around too many concerns and worries. Give them to God, write them down then physically destroy them as an example of giving it to God. Let God take care of you and your worries. Rest in Him.

Matthew 6:25-34 (please read)
Your worry doesn't do one single positive thing. All it does is rob you of your peace, reliance on the Almighty God and your joy. Our souls and minds get cluttered when we try to take on future worries and what ifs. God tells us to take one day at a time. There is enough to be busy doing today without borrowing from tomorrow.
Philippians 4:6-8 (please read)

Philippians 4:11-13 (please read)
Contentment is KEY! Until we learn to be content exactly where we are our minds will continue to be cluttered andoru lives feel overwhelming Trust that no matter where God has you, He will provide exactly what you need and never leave you. (Proverb 3:5 & 6) Let God and Let God!

Psalm 4:8 "In peace I will lie down and sleep for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe."

Practical ways to organize your mind and spirit:
-keep a prayer journal, from all the big to little prayer needs that arise in your life. Remember to write out how each one is answered!
-Take it one day at a time. Don't think about tomorrow and all that you have to do then, just live in this very moment.
-When you give something to God to take care of, stop taking it back! Let God work like only He can.
-Trust God to do the ultimate best, because He never does anything less!

Days 5-7

Days 5-8 didn't really happen and this is why. On Thursday around 11pm Jon came down with a bad stomach virus. Two hours later Aden woke up throwing up too. Needless to say I was up the entire night taking care of my sick husband and son. The next day I was beyond exhausted and was still taking care of a sick little boy. Poor thing couldn't keep anything down all night and most of Friday. By Friday night all I wanted to do was get some sleep, but knew around 8pm that I was coming down with the virus myself. At 3am Saturday the stomach virus hit me big time and I spent all of Saturday in bed. Sunday we were all tired from being sick so we didn't do much other than church and a run to sams Club. This is the reason I haven't done a single thing for the challenge in several days. I will pick up on Day 9 today! Pray that we all stay well now, we've been so sick this whole year and I just don't think I can take anymore.

Day 4

Ok so today went good and bad. Today I was supposed to show interest and appreciation for the job Jon does to provide for us. On top of that I was supposed to show him that I know he works hard by letting him have some down time once he got home instead of dumping house chores on him...(like I do every single day...yes I feel badly about this but so far haven't been able to change that behavior, I'm working on it.) Before Jon went to work today I tried to ask questions about what he had planned today at work and told him that I really appreciate all the hard work he does to take care of us. I truly meant it too. I try to tell him this on a regular basis because I know that he needs that praise and thankfulness from me in his life. I busied myself with laundry when I knew Jon would be arriving home and had Aden helping me while Emma played nearby in hopes this would prevent me from immediately dumping the kids or chores on Jon. (I usually am preparing dinner when he gets home and Emma is screaming next to and Aden is making a mess elsewhere in the house which gets me all in frenzy and makes Jon's arrival home from work stressful. So today I decided a change in routine and doing something that wasn't stressful on me when he got home would hopefully prevent his arrival home from being chaotic.) It worked pretty well. He had time to get changed and do some computer stuff before the kids were demanding his attention. I don't know if he noticed or not, but I really did try my best!

Here is the "bad" part. I have found that for me to not complain to Jon about something he has done or not done, I am trying to be positive in all areas of life. Once I open the "complaining flood gates" it all comes out. Satan gets that foothold and reminds me of all the things that bother me. A friend of mine even actually emailed me today and said that I seemed "perkier" than usual! It made me laugh...apparently this positive me is noticeable to more than just my husband:) So you may be wondering why is this bad? It's bad because I'm internalizing anything negative that happens. Something small to most people but big to me happened last night (nothing to do with Jon) that really affected me negatively. I got angry then really sad and then down right depressed but because I didn't want to open those flood gates I've kept it to myself. I started to tell Jon about it then decided not to do it because we were having such a great day. So now I have to find a balance in this so that I don't internalize stuff that will end up bubbling up and spilling over later.

Tomorrows: "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for
necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers." Eph. 4:29

Tomorrow I am supposed to find a creative way to let Jon's family know the things I love and appreciate about him. THis should be interesting!!!

Day 3

"...love suffers long, and is kind..." 1 Cor. 13:4
"And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ
Jesus." Phil. 4:19
Today I am challenged to give my husband true words of encouragement and thank him for his kindness and consideration of my feelings and needs.

I wanted to do something creative to say thank you to Jon for his kindness and consideration of me. Since I love writing and it's been awhile since I have written a poem for Jon, I decided to put my feelings in a poem.

"I Love the Way You Love Me"

I love the way you love me

So passionate yet so sweet

Love words whispered softly

As your fingers brush my cheek.


I love the way you love me

With acceptance of who I am

You know just how to calm me

Like nobody else ever can.


I love the way you love me

With flowers and special gifts

You know just want I like

And when my spirits need a lift.


I love the way you love me

With forgiveness when I'm wrong

When I've messed up once again

You keep loving me right along.


I love the way you love me

Nobody else could ever do

Everything you are completes me

Forevermore I love you.




Since I won't be able to blog tonight (a friend is coming over) I decided to blog about it now. So far today has been good. I have been positive and encouraging in my words and actions to Jon! I am finding new ways to ask him for help instead of nagging. For instance my car needs looking at (again for the third time in a month) and I need him to look at it tonight because my fluids might be low. So when I called him at work, instead of complaining once again that he hasn't looked at it the time I wanted him to, I just told him the problem and told him that I would really appreciate it if he try to look at it tonight since I drive it every day and want to be safe with the kids. I think he took it well, as opposed to me nagging him. I look forward to giving him this poem I wrote for him and I hope it makes him feel special and loved.


Tomorrows Challenge: "let him labor, working with his hands what is good." Eph. 4:28


Tomorrow I am challenged to tell Jon how much I appreciate the hard work he does to provide for me and our children. I am challenged to not "dump on him" the moment he walks in the door. Instead I am supposed to remember that he has been at work all day and needs some let down time. This one will prove to be hard for me as pretty much every day the moment he walks in the door I am demanding something of him whether it be help with the kids, take out the trash, fix this or that, etc.! Pray for me, I know this really will be a challenge tomorrow!!

Day 2

First of all I have to say I was inspired and encouraged by the number of other women who upon reading yesterdays blog felt led to do the challenge as well! Now I have 6 friends doing this challenge and I am so excited to see how God blesses them and their husbands through this.
Day 2 ""...through love serve one another." Gal. 5:13b
Today I was to continue being positive and uplifting with Jon and specifically I was to thank him for the things he does around the house. Since Mondays are the days he works late, I decided that my thankfulness would have to be expressed in an email sent to him at work. In the email I didn't just thank him in general terms, I specifically mentioned the things he does around our home. He does our laundry on the weekends so I won't have it all to do during the week. He helps clean the house when I ask, takes out the trash, helps with the cooking if I don't feel like it, swiffers the floors when asked, cleans up after dinner, unloads the dishwasher, gets the kids ready for bed, bathes them when I need the help and takes care of our cars (such as oil changes, upkeep, washing, etc.) If something needs to be fixed in our home he does it if he can and if he can't he finds out how! So I thanked him for all these things. I have made a point of being extra loving to him today and have found that my spirits have been lifted today just for being more positive and cheerful towards my husband:) So all in all it's been a good day!

Tomorrow Day 3 ""...love suffers long, and is kind..." 1 Cor. 13:4
"And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ
Jesus." Phil. 4:19
Tomorrow I am challenged to give my husband true words of encouragement and thank him for his kindness and consideration of my feelings and needs.

30 Day Challenge

My best friend challenged me to a 30 day challenge of edifying my husband. It came from a website she was introduced to through her church (at least I think that's how it goes!) and when I read the instructions I was inspired to take part in this challenge. Basically for 30 days you have to be positive about your husband and build him up. This means no negativity, discouraging words, complaining about your husband to him or about him to others and overall being an encouragement to him. There are specific things you are supposed to do each day throughout the 30 days. (Kind of like in the that movie Fireproof.) When I accepted the challenge I thought to myself that it sounded rather easy because I make it a point to say uplifting things and expressions of gratitude to my husband every day. Well man was I wrong. After the 2nd day I got lazy and gave up on the challenge. I kept saying that I would start it again the next day. My best friend also had a difficult time and sort of let it fall by the wayside. After trying to ignore it for two weeks I realized this was something I must do. I realized that if I truly love my husband I should be willing to be a better wife to him, to build him up and encourage him and to do this 30 day challenge. I know there are blessings to reap if I do. Our marriage will be stronger and our love will grow deeper. So I extended the challenge to some other Christian girlfriends last week. Sadly only one accepted the challenge, but we are going to pray one another through this! Knowing I have accountability will help! I have also decided to blog about how each day goes, another way of being held accountable! So you will get to read my journey through the next 30 days of becoming a more positive encouraging wife.
Day One- "The heart of her husband safely trusts her; so he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life." Prov. 31:11-12 Today say thank you to your husband for choosing you to be his wife. (And in all the 30 days be positive, say nothing negative about your husband to him, or to others and say something your appreciate about your husband to him and to someone else)
So day one's result...I FAILED miserably. I woke up grumpy and carried my grumpiness over into the whole morning. I definitely was not appreciative toward Jon and I definitely did not tell him that I was thankful he chose me to be his wife. That's ok. I am a work in progress and God is not done with me. I have decided to still salvage the few hours we have left before bed and be extra kind to him and tell him that I am so blessed that he chose me to be his wife! It's never too late to do what is good and right.

Tomorrows challenge:"...through love serve one another." Gal. 5:13b
Praise your husband for the service he does around the house and for others.
I'll let you know how it goes...say some prayer for me!

A Tribute to My Mom

That's my mom in the center, with her sister and brother at her surprise 50th birthday party last November

I know my mom isn't going to read this but I just wanted to write something to honor her! I may even copy and paste this into WORD and then print it out for her so she can see how much I truly love, respect and admire her...

It occurred to me last week that there was never a time in my life where I remember my mom complaining or grumbling about her responsibilities as wife and mother. Not once! I was an only child and therefore my mom played with me more than most parents play with their children. I remember her always having time for me, ALWAYS. There wasn't one time I can recall that she acted like she was too busy or it was bothersome for her to stop whatever it was she was doing and come play with me. I have such fond memories of all our playtimes! Now that I am a mom of two young kids I realized one day that my mom must have gotten overwhelmed and exhausted with playing so much. I know I get so tired of playing day after day and at times I just don't want to do it anymore. I sadly am sure my children have seen that spirit of unwillingness in me. So I asked my mom one day if she ever got annoyed with playing so much. She was honest with me and told me there were more than a few times when the thought of playing and pretending made her want to scream but she did it anyway because she loved me and knew those days were fleeting. I was surprised because not once did she ever act like she didn't want to do whatever it was I wanted to do. Along those same lines, I have come to realize that my mom must have felt overwhelmed with her load of work at home and at her job from time to time. Every woman does! It was completely on her shoulders to come home after work and cook dinner, clean up after dinner, do any housework that needed to be done, take care of the church ministries she was involved with, and still have time to play with me. And again, she never once complained or made it seem like a chore. She always made it seem like she enjoyed these things and did them with an attitude that I know glorified the Lord. I asked her this weekend about this...I asked her if she ever felt completely worn out with it all because I know lately that is how I have been feeling. She told me that she felt that way many times, but would always ask the Lord to help her do what He had called her to do (even those mundane every day tasks of taking care of her family) with a humble grateful spirit. There was another time in my life when looking back I don't know how my mom made it through without falling apart. I was in 9th grade and had developed a rather bad eating and compulsive exercising disorder. During this very difficult time my dad had a bad accident at work and broke some vertebrae and his ankle. He was completely unable to do anything for himself for awhile which left my mom with EVERYTHING to do. No breaks, no help, just her. She had to take care of her home, go to work every day, take care of her injured husband, take care of her sick daughter, take care of the bills, and all the while she did it with a smile. We talked about this this weekend too, and I came to find out that it wasn't as easy for her as she made it seem. There was a time when she was completely at her wits end and didn't know what else to do, so as always she turned to the Lord for strength only He could give her. Eventually dad got better, I came to my senses and got help for my problems, and our family was renewed and strengthened and I do believe that is SOLELY because of the prayers of a faithful wife and mom! My mom has always been a caring, thoughtful, wise, Godly woman whose love I have never once questioned. I look up to her in so many ways and the older I get the more I admire her. Dad told her recently that she is his hero, well for that matter she is my hero as well. I know she doesn't know what an amazing woman and inspiration she really is, but I pray that God will show me ways to show her that and that He will enable me to be that kind of mom that my kids can look back on and remember as being an unconditionally loving, patient, mom and a Godly woman who always sought the Lord in every circumstance.