Summer Bible Reading Plan For Moms

John Piper writes: Don't let summer make your soul shrivel. God made summer as a foretaste of heaven, not a substitute.

If the mailman brings you a love letter from your fiancé, don't fall in love with the mailman. That's what summer is: God's messenger with a sun-soaked, tree-green, flower-blooming, lake-glistening letter of love to show us what he is planning for us in the age to come—"things which the eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man, God has prepared for those who love him" (1 Corinthians 2:9).

It is easy in the midst of summer fun to let our time in God's word slip.  If you are in need of accountability, I want to invite you to join me as I follow this summer reading plan for moms.

This reading plan follows the "S.O.A.P" method and I will be using it alongside Sally Clarkson's book The Ministry of Motherhood.

YOU DO NOT NEED TO HAVE SALLY'S BOOK TO JOIN ME!!!!  Reading God's word is first priority.  There will be videos over on Good Morning Girls.org that accompany this reading plan.  We'd love for you to join us - come alone or come as a group!

What is the S.O.A.P method?  The S.O.A.P. Method stands for:

1. S- Write out the scripture passage for the day. (I have a shiny new notebook where I will be writing out the verse/s of the day.)

2. O- Write down 1 or 2 observations from the passage. (After I write out the verse, I will write what I learned from the verse.)

3. A- Write down 1-2 applications from the passage. (Then I will write out how this verse applies to me if it is applicable.)

4. P- Pray over what you learned from today’s passage. (Then I will pray this verse over myself and my family.)

As you go through this study, if you come across a verse or passage that you don’t understand, I recommend Crosswalk’s Bible Study Tools found here: http://www.biblestudytools.com/ On this page in the lower right hand corner, you can find links to Bible dictionaries, commentaries (I like Matthew Henry's and John McArthur's), concordances, and other Bible translations, etc.

I need accountability.  If you need it too just print out the summer reading plan here.

And if you are a blogger and would like to share this with your readers - feel free to copy and paste this little button and link it too http://www.goodmorninggirls.org/

If you don't have a blog - I invite you to spread the word to your family and friends - share the link to this post or Good Morning Girls.org with your facebook, twitter or email friends.

 

Walk with the King and let him knock your socks off – he loves you so!!!!

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I am linked to Raising Homemakers, Titus 2sdays, We Are That Family and A Holy Experience.

Our Daily Homeschool Routine and Curriculum ~ Part 3 of 5

This is my children on the day all their boxes of homeschool stuff arrived this past July!!! It was a VERY exciting day!!!


This video gives you a peak inside a typical homeschool day in our home. Every home will look different based on the ages of your children. Some of you will have little ones that need managed during homeschool time, others will have teens who are self sufficient. This is what our home looks like right now in this season of life. (and please, if you are a homeschooler - share in the comments about what your day looks like! I'd LOVE to hear about it!!! And if you have a blog post about it - pretty please link it up below!!!!)


I will share with you our curriculum choice in the video below. Some of you will be disappointed with our family choice - you will be surprised to find that we do not use Christian curriculum. This is one reason I hesitated to do this series...this post is sure to upset a few of my faithful followers who I love and care about. In July, I shared about our curriculum here and the comments were ugly.

There are tons of awesome choices for curriculum out there - we each must do our homework and choose the one that works best for our family. One reason we chose this one is because my oldest sister - who I adore - used this curriculum for 7 years with her 3 boys and she loved it. She currently works as a virtual High School Math teacher for our on-line school. Be assured, there is no shortage of spiritual teaching in our home. I will talk more about this on Friday. But for now - here's part 3!

I mentioned above my chore pack system. If you'd like to see the video covering that - click here.


Today is Women Living Well Wednesday! It's a Link-Up Day!!!

Join the fun, do a little blog hopping and don't forget if you join below -please add the Women Living Well Wednesdays button to your post so your readers can find us here! (posts can include the topics of marriage, parenting and homemaking)

<a href="http://womenlivingwell-courtney.blogspot.com/search/label/Women%20Living%20Well%20Wednesdays"><img border="0" src="http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq297/courtneylivingwell/LivingWell.png" /></a>

Walk with the King!

I am linked up at Titus2days (Time Warp Wife), Raising Homemakers, and Works for Me Wednesday.

Tasty Tuesday: How I Menu Plan

Last Thursday I shared my Daily Schedule and My Weekly Cleaning Schedule. Today I want to share with your my Menu Planning Schedule.


As we get life in order for the fall, creating an organized meal plan is a piece of the puzzle for me. The average woman will plan, shop, cook, and clean up over 1,000 meals in just one year!!! So for me, finding a system that works, is efficient, and stays within our budget is important.

I use an Excel spread sheet that I just literally plug in the meals and voila - it's quick and easy! Often times I leave the breakfast, lunch, snacks and desserts the same and just change the dinners. I hang this chart on the fridge and I find that it resolves all meal time dilemmas. And I must admit "candy" eating is not on the chart - but we do eat it. The chart is too big to plug into this blog so click on this link to see an example of my "Meal Plan".

In Excel I have created a couple of pages titled Meal Plan, Grocery List, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Dessert and Snacks. As I make my meal plan, I just click to my breakfast ideas or lunch ideas and plug them in for the week. I also look at ads for the best deals and what coupons I have.

But I also want to share with you a Meal Plan that one of my readers (Denice at Living Spring Drops - who also happens to be a Good Morning Girl) uses. She commented on my Daily Schedule post with this meal plan and I LOVE it and am going to give it a whirl this fall as a guide.

Here is what she wrote:

I am a scheduler but with 5 children ages 17 to 6 it doesn't always go the way I schedule it. I get in Menu ruts. So, to help me stay creative but stay structured I came up with this:

Mexican Monday
Tomato-ey Tuesday
Wild-Card Wednesday
Thrifty & Thankful Thursday
Fancy Friday
Soupy Saturday
Sandwich Sunday

Mexican is anything from tacos to cumin-lime chicken, burrito, black bean soup, etc.

Tomato-ey is anything tomato based, from the obvious like pizza and spagetti, to bruchetta or tomato soup.

Wild-Card is my freedom day. I can do leftovers or another Fancy if I like.

Thankful is something ALL my kids truly enjoy AND isn't very expensive...like mac & cheese with hotdogs.

Fancy is our night for grilled salmon, marinated london broil, and en extra special dessert.

Soup and Sandwich speak for themselves....but sloppy joes, BBQ, and pbj grilled have all been had.

Sooooooo, this helps my menu and market jobs go by faster!!! Then I'm not sitting around staring at my menu sheet with writer's block!!! :)

**************

I love it Denice! Thank you so much for sharing such an excellent tip!

Walk with the King!

I am participating in Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday, Dining With Debbie , Balancing Beauty and Bedlam and Tuesdays at the Table recipe exchanges. And Raising Homemakers Link Up. For more blogger recipes go to these links.

Our Back-To-School Daily Schedule

Let me just be honest, I love a schedule. I'm not sure if there's ever been a day that I have perfectly stuck to it. But I have found that creating routines and a rhythm in the home creates peace. It also helps me to keep my priorities a priority and accomplish everything that needs to be accomplished in the day.


I have been practicing this schedule recently and tweaking it and I am sure it may get a few more tweaks by the end of September but here is an idea of what our days will look like this fall.


5:30am - wake and go for a run or do Pilate's

6ish - Quiet Time

6:30 - Write/Post blog post

7-7:45 -Facebook, twitter, emails, surf Blogs

7:45 - Breakfast / Devotions with children

8 - Begin school with Alex (Math,Phonics)/ Alexis does chores and free time

8:45 - Begin school with Alexis (Math, Phonics) / Alex does chores and free time

9:30 - School with Alex (Language Arts) / Alexis participates in Alex's school time

10 - Recess for kids (play outside if weather permits) /Facebook, twitter, email

10:30 - Snack / School with Alexis (Language Arts,Handwriting)

11:15 - School with Alex (Phonics,Handwriting)

12 - Make Lunch and eat

12:30-1:30 - Free time for Kids / Clean, facebook, email

1:30-2:30 - Finish School with kids (Art,Music)

**Note: History and Science done all day on Fridays

2:30-3:30 - Quiet Roomtime for kids / Clean, read

3:30 - Snack & TV time (usually Curious George) / Facebook

4-5:30 - Kids have freetime/ Clean, make dinner

5:30 - Family Dinner

6 - Chill

7:30 - Begin bedtime stories and talk time on each child's bed

8pm - Write the next day's blog post

9pm - Chill with my man

10ish - Fall into bed for some beauty sleep lol!


Through out the week I will insert different activities for the children such as baking together, swimming and gymnastics lessons, flag football practice, women's Bible study group for me and other fun things like play dates and trips to museums.

You may notice that showering is missing in there. I'm not sure where I'll put it lol! During one of the school breaks I'll squeeze it in. This schedule is simply a goal. In an ideal world, everyday I would have my quiet time, exercise, post my blog, homeschool the kids all of their subjects, clean, give my husband some lovin', and interact with my blog readers. But we live in a fallen world - so this will be our goal each day.

And for those who haven't seen my cleaning schedule let me just throw this in there too:

Monday - Menu and Market (Grocery Shop)

Tuesday - Toilets, Tubs, Towels

Wednesday - Wash (Set timer and rotate laundry every hour)

Thursday - Dust

Friday - Floors

If you are a "scheduler" have you written yours up yet? Please share it in the comments section. If you are not a scheduler, do not let my methods frustrate you - this is NOT for everyone. Different personalities really hate this type of thing and flourish under flexibility. God wired me this way and wired you that way - each for his own good purpose. This is what makes the body of Christ beautiful. God uses us all for his glory!

Walk with the King!

My New 2010 Weekly Schedule!

It's a new year - it's time for a new weekly schedule! A while back one of my readers, Nicki, shared her weekly cleaning schedule in the comments section of of a post titled "Smiling At Home". I loved it! I saved her comment and when I pulled out my shiny new 2010 calendar, I also pulled out her schedule. As I wrote birthdays, important phone numbers and other information into my new calendar, I also added this schedule along the top, above the days of the week.

My 2010 Weekly Schedule

Mondays - Menu and Market Day

Tuesdays: Toilets, Tubs and Towels Day

Wednesdays: Wash (laundry day)

Thursdays: Dust

Fridays: Floors

I am very excited about this NEW schedule!!! It's easy to follow since the task matches the first letter of the day. I will not follow it rigidly - so if you bump into me at the grocery store on a Friday - do not be dismayed! I use my schedules as guides to be sure I get everything done every week.

It's easy to write a schedule -the hard part is following it! It takes discipline, diligence and eagerness to get it all done every week. I am reminded of Proverbs 31:13 which says "she works with eager hands." Do you have eager hands today? We must role model this eagerness for our children and train them to have eagerness also - the home is a classroom for our children and mothers - we are the teachers. So pursue an eager spirit as you take care of your home today.

If you have a weekly schedule - please share it in the comment section - you never know - it might become my 2011 schedule lol!!


Walk with the King!

Back-To-School - Weekly Schedule and Routine

I have recently joined the twitter world and am posting my tweets along the left side bar. One person I follow on twitter is Kay Arthur. Saturday when she tweeted, she said "be rigidly flexible"..."be intentional".


This sums up for me what a "weekly schedule" - or for a more affectionate term - a "weekly routine" should be. It should be intentional - by nature it's rigid, but in reality it is flexible.

This week - most kids are going back-to-school and all of their activities are going to change the flow of our week. So as we assess the different days of the week and see that some are busier than others - we must also assess what day is best for grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning, or outings. If we wait until Monday has begun to make these decisions most likely we will procrastinate and be stressed out by the end of the week - and end up trying to accomplish a full week's worth of tasks on Saturday!

So I sat down and wrote up my new fall schedule/routine! Here's mine:

Sundays - Church
Mondays - Clean up from the tornado that hit over the weekend!
Tuesdays - Outings and errands
Wednesdays - Cleaning
Thursdays - Grocery Shop

Fridays - Laundry Day
Saturdays - Watch Ohio State Football


For some, organization does not come naturally, I feel that I fall into that category! Now you may say, "no way - you LOVE schedules so you must do this naturally" - but honestly I have read many good books, systems, websites and CD's to come to this place in life (as my mom and husband can testify - in my younger years, I was apt to over book myself and be completely stressed out - now I accomplish much more but with ease and joy). If you regularly feel overwhelmed by all you have to accomplish in a day, week and month - then I'd suggest you pursue learning the skill of organization.


It may seem like a lot of work to put a routine into place but in the end you will save a lot of time and guess what you get to do with your free time!! Relax and cuddle with your chicks and nuzzle with your hubby. Enjoy the fruit of your labor!



Proverbs 31:28 "Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her; Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all."



Walk with the King!


http://www.womenlivingwell.org/

Back To School - My Daily Schedule

If you have read my "about me" page, then you have read number 17 where I say "I love schedules - I love typing them up, living by them and dreaming of the next one!" So I am excited to say - "no more summer lazy days - it's time for a NEW SCHEDULE!!!! Hooray!"

Why do I write out my daily schedule? Because it keeps my priorities a priority.

What are my priorities?
1. To have a morning quiet time

2. To be sure all of my husbands needs and wants are met

3. To train my children in the way of the Lord

4. To home school my children 2 1/2 hours a day

5. To keep a clean and orderly home.

6. To get enough rest

7. To exercise daily

8. To keep up with this blog

So how am I going to squeeze all of this in every single day? I have a plan - I call my plan - my daily schedule. The reality is life happens and I will not be able to stick to this schedule perfectly - but my schedule is my guide and it keeps my priorities a priority.

So here is our Back-to-School Daily Schedule:
6:30am - wake and have my quiet time

6:55am - post my blog (which is written the night before), email the Good Morning Girls, Check Facebook - post a status, read my favorite blogs.

8am - make and serve breakfast - read the Bible with the children while they eat their breakfast

8:30am - Do morning chores along side the children

9am - School begins

10am - free / play time for kids while I exercise

10:45am -School time

11:45am - prepare lunch

12:00pm - Serve lunch

12:30pm - free/play time

1:30pm - finish school work for the day

2:00pm - kids rest time/room time while I check email, Facebook and blogs

3:00pm Snack and television time for kids - while I do housework

4:00pm - free time / housework

5:00pm - make dinner

5:30pm - serve dinner

Family time

7:30 - Story time

8pm - bedtime for kids

Chill time for mommy / Write the next morning's blog

9:30pm -10:30pm- time with my husband

10:59pm - bedtime (my goal is to go to bed while there is a ten on the clock and to get up while there is a 6 on the clock - this guarantees 7-8 hours of sleep every night - 7 days a week)


Through out the week I will insert different activities for the children such as baking together, swimming and gymnastics lessons, flag football practice, women's Bible study group for me and other fun things like play dates and trips to museums.


Have you written a fall daily schedule? I'd love to hear about it - feel free to share it in the comments section. To see my spring schedule I posted last March go here...


Walk with the King!

Summer Bible Study Plans and Ideas

It's June 1st - schools out and summer is here! Have you made your summer Bible study plans? If not, I have a few ideas for you.

1. Read through the book of Proverbs. There are 30 days in the month of June and there are 31 chapters in the book of Proverbs. So if you start today you can read one chapter a day of Proverbs and nearly complete the book. Then in the month of July you can spend the entire month reading, meditating, memorizing and studying in-depth Proverbs chapter 31 which every woman should know inside and out! And then in August - reread Proverbs - the entire book for a second time!

Why do I suggest Proverbs as a summer read? Do you ever feel like you just need some wisdom to help you in your marriage, parenting, homemaking, friendships, or work? Proverbs IS the book of wisdom. God says of the author Soloman, "I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be."(I Kings 3:12)

So as you soak in the summer sun - take some time to soak in the Proverbs.

2. Beth Moore is starting a summer on-line study! This is so exciting!!! She has chosen a book titled "Me, Myself, and Lies" by Jennifer Rothschild. It's a 6 weeks study that will meet every other Tuesday through the summer on-line. If you want to join go to Beth's blog here for the details. You have until June 23rd to get your hands on the book and then join Beth on-line for her free video. She is encouraging women to get into groups of 3 or more to listen to her video on-line and then discuss the lesson. But you can do it alone also. Sounds fun!

So what am I doing? Am I doing Proverbs? Beth Moore?

3. I am meeting with my Good Morning Girls through the summer and we have chosen the book "Homeschooling With a Meek and Quiet Spirit" by Teri Maxwell. This book is not just for homeschooling moms! Actually only 2 of the 5 of us are homeschoolers. It is applicable to all moms. It comes with a handbook. We chose this book because it coincides with the "30 Day Gentleness Challenge" that we just completed. We will be looking at parenting and dealing with fear, worry, disorganization, anger, depression, contentment, smiling, and the power of a meek and quiet spirit.

So I am definitely doing #3 - but I will be including #1 daily also. I'm really tempted to sign up for #2 but afraid I'll be overwhelmed with #1 and #3, plus keeping up with my blog. So, I need to pray about doing option #2.

What are your summer Bible study plans and ideas??

And by the way - TODAY is my parents 41st Wedding Anniversary! Congratulations Mom and Dad! I LOVE YOU TWO LOVE BIRDS!!!

Walk with the King!

http://www.womenlivingwell.org/

Q and A about my Meal Plan

Question:

How far in advance do you plan your meals and how often do you try a new dish? Do you generally rotate the same dinners throughout the month? Thanks for sharing your meal plan with us! It does help! Now I just gotta figure out how to use Excel!

-Kimmy

Thanks Kimmy for your great questions!!! Yes, I generally rotate the same dinners through out the month. In Excel you can create a “workbook” and it has multiple “worksheets” in the “workbook” with tabs to access them. I have titled the tabs Meal Plan, Grocery List, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Dessert and Snacks. About 2 years ago, I sat and entered all of our favorite breakfasts on the breakfast sheet, lunches on the lunch sheet and so on. So when I am making my meal plan, I click on the breakfast page and look at my options and then go back to the meal plan and enter breakfast items. Then I do the same with lunches, and dinner. I also look at the ads for the best deals, and my coupons.


After the meal plan is complete, I click to the worksheet titled “Grocery List” and I enter my list of groceries. I check my cupboard and fridge to verify what items I need. After everything is entered, I print the meal plan and grocery list. I put the plan on the fridge and I put the grocery list and coupons in a ziploc baggy (so I can see the coupons and list).


When I meal plan it is usually for the week. But as the seasons change, I love to pull out my recipes that represent that season and work them in. Do you collect recipes but then never make them? Taking a Saturday, when I have free time, to write down which ones I will try during the month helps me. So yes, I do try new recipes but I don't have an organized system for trying them. On the last day of February (last Saturday), I sat in my dining room for nearly 2 hours organizing all my spring recipes and getting them ready for March. I also had a few healthy recipe books from the library and was jotting down some new healthy recipes that I will incorporate. As I type out each week's meal plan, I will look at my monthly plan that I jotted down on scrap paper to remind me of meals I would like to incorporate.

And finally - do not feel the pressure to use excel. I learned this meal planning system off of the author and organizer Emilie Barnes. Her method is simply to use a blank sheet of paper and a pencil. So do not let the "excel spreadsheet" part scare you away. Excel is a great tool - but so is a pencil!!!

Have fun and do what works for you! The average woman will plan, shop, cook, and clean up over 1,000 meals in just one year. Find the system that works best for you and then tweak it and tweak it and tweak it until you find the one you enjoy and can do most efficiently with your resource of time and money.

Walk with the King!

http://www.womenlivingwell.org/

Personal Order Part 2 - My Daily Schedule

Yesterday I shared my weekly schedule which mainly consisted of my homemaking duties. When my home is well taken care of and I am diligent about my daily duties, God is pleased. So I desire to do it well and my weekly schedule is my little helper.

When it comes to my "daily schedule", I'd say that it is more about me - my mind, body and spirit. This is not a selfish endeavour. This is about deciding my priorities and then living them out in my daily life. When I "go with the flow" of life, I find that my quiet time, exercise regimen and bedtime get lost in the busyness. They end up not being a priority - but the result of letting those things waver is an exhausted, stressed out, temperamental wife and mommy. So this schedule helps me spiritually, emotionally and physically handle the daily challenges as a mom, wife and servant of God.

My daily schedule has helped me in my pursuit for balance. This schedule is only effective if I discipline myself to follow it. So, the easy part was creating the schedule (which changes with the seasons of life - I write and rewrite schedules all the time!) and the hard part is implementing it.

Currently my schedule applies 7 days a week - but it flexes with my family's needs. Also, you will see that there are chunks of time not allotted for - those are the hours that I spend doing the weekly tasks from yesterday's schedule. Also, I have scheduled in at 8pm my exercise time every night but I only workout 3-4 nights a week at that time because sometimes I attend an aerobics class at 9:30am.

Here's My "Daily Schedule":

My alarm goes off before 6:30am, 7 days a week. Periodically, on a Saturday I will not set my alarm. But this is rare.

6:30 - Proofread my blog written the night before and post it

6:40 - Pray and write in my prayer journal

6:50 - Read my Bible using my "Reading Through the Bible in a Year" Plan

7:05- check facebook and email the Good Morning Girls

7:15 - Shower

7:45 - Breakfast

8:30- Out the door - to preschool or Church 5 days a week

12:30 - Lunch

2pm - 3pm - Check my blog, facebook and email (the children have a quiet time in their room for an hour)

5:30 - Dinner

7:00 - Children's bedtime Routine begins

7:30 - kids are in bed - Begin the next day's blog, check facebook and email

8:00 - Exercise for one hour (treadmill plus weights or pilates)

9:00 - Back to my computer or do Bible study

9:30 - One on One time with Keith (my husband) to talk about our day for 30 minutes

10:30 - Begin to get ready for bed

10:40 - Read a Christian book in bed

10:59 - zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

It is noted in the Book of Daniel that Daniel prayed three times a day - morning, noon and night. Also, it is noted that he kept a very strict diet - of mainly vegetables and water. He did not wish to defile his body with the food that the King offered him. Ultimately, this man who lived this disciplined life - was used mightily by God. Now Daniel was an exception - not the rule - but his life inspires me to focus and force my lazy soul to do the things I would not naturally do, had I not made a schedule to do them.

Do you have a daily schedule? I'd love to hear about it! Share it in the comments section!

Walk with the King!

http://www.womenlivingwell.org/