Home Sanctuary

Welcome, Joy.

Make a Homekeeping Mission Statement

It has been a couple of years since we've talked about creating a mission statement for our homes. Now that I think about it, all our work on setting up housekeeping schedules and getting organized is a little bit like putting the cart before the horse. You've got to know what it is you're aiming at before you start firing.

Wow, two metaphors in two sentences to illustrate the importance of having a goal.

In my original post, used this picture:

"If you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time."

Almost every organization has a mission statement, and homes, the world's most important organizations, should be no different. A mission statement sets out the core values that determine the "how" and "why" things are done. As CEO's of our homes (yes, that's YOU!), we have the opportunity to set the tone, the goals and the vision for how we want to live and operate our little "companies."

Here is mine. I've changed it up to reflect the change in the season of my life, but you could modify it to fit yours if you like:

My home is a sanctuary for all who enter. It is clean and orderly enough to offer hospitality, and comfortable enough to feel homey. I choose to honor my husband's need for order and grace, and my family's need for unhurried time. I make progress each day, and choose joy and contentment no matter what.

I've chosen to put everything into the present tense, because it feels very tangible that way.

Today's Small Thing is to create your own homekeeping mission statement.

Keep it simple and don't overthink it. You can always modify it later. I found that simply taking 10 minutes to do this today made me focus on what is really important when I think about what I want my home to feel like inside. Home is about people....and your mission statement should reflect that in some way.

Feel free to borrow all (or part) of mine. I'm going to take some more time to hone mine a bit more. In the meantime, I hope you'll share yours in the comments today! We can inspire one another with our goals.

PS I love OrgJunkie's Mission Statement, at the bottom of her About Page.

POINTS: 50 for writing out a simple homekeeping mission statement

BONUS: I'll draw one name from the commenters to have their mission statement made into a canvas print! Your words - on one of my hand-painted backgrounds....woo-hoo!

2013: Let's Begin

Welcome! I finally found some WiFi today and am able to post. The Chai Latte is a lovely addition to the experience. :)

I'm so excited to start a new year together! I love seeing all the new girls (and old friends) joining me for a year of learning to "breathe." We are going to be creating space in our homes and lives that will allow us to live fully engaged and free to enjoy the gifts we have been given but often lose in the messiness of life.

Go ahead....start right now by taking a deep breath! It's gonna be good.

If you've been feeling overwhelmed by clutter and chaos, or simply lost your joy in the day-to-day responsibilities, you have come to the right place. As a "messy perfectionist," and mom who has consistently fought feelings of failure and meltdown, I am here to tell you that there IS hope, and you WILL start living the kind of life you've been longing for. You are going to establish new habits and ways of thinking that will propel you into freedom and joy. You are going to start enjoying your homes and families because you will be able to find shoes and keys and papers, and your coffee tables will look pretty again. You won't panic when an unexpected guest drops by because your home will look presentable. You *might* even wear earrings and makeup at home as we organize because you're feeling good and rockin' this home-thing. Yes, this can happen.

Stick with me, honey. We're in this together and we're taking on 2013.

First, let's talk about how this is going to go down.

Finding and creating sanctuary in your life will require a certain degree of work, but that's okay. Anything worth achieving will require something of us and we aren't afraid of that. But there is nothing that says work must be drudgery, is there?  This is where I believe making a game and getting credit for the things that we don't normally "like" to do can make tasks fun.

Each weekday, I will post a "Small Thing," a task that will help bring peace, beauty or order to your life. Each little job will only take a few minutes to do, but will make a huge difference in your home....because it will build on the previous tasks and successes. That oughta be enough, but hey, if you'd like to participate in making a GAME out of it, I'm going to attach points to the completion of each task....with a chance to accrue enough points at the end of each month to win a prize.

Yes, a prize on top of the prize you're already getting as your home becomes your sanctuary!

Want to start? Awesome.

This month, let's "compete" for this prize right here: A Kindle E-Reader

I love this version of the Kindle, simply because it lets me read without getting distracted with the internet. There is something really great to be said about that! It is small, lightweight and wonderful to use....I know you'll love it too! Rack up those points, girls, and this baby might be YOURS!

Today's Small Thing is to print off a brand, spankin' new Tally Sheet below so you are prepared for the rest of the month.

Download TallyBlank

Once you print it off and post it somewhere you can't miss (refrigerator, office, bathroom mirror), you'll simply pencil in your daily accomplishment and point tally. At the end of the month I will ask you to email your total to me and whoever has the MOST points will win the prize of the month. And the great news is, everyone who participates at least one day will be eligible for a random drawing for another small prize as well...just for fun!

 

POINTS: 40 for printing off January's rather plain tally sheet Download TallyBlank and getting prepared for our first month of sanctuary!

Let's have fun....and learn to breathe at the same time.

I Invite You to....Breathe

 

I invite you to....simply breathe.

 

Join me in 2013, won't you?

 

For a year of...simply breathing.

 

Coming up for air

and filling your lungs with goodness and hope.

 

Re-centering

on what's important.

 

Remembering

how to be joyful,

even when the sink is full of dishes, and the laundry is piled high and you can't find any underwear and the dog got into the trash again.

{Inhale. Exhale. Hooo. Yes.}

 

Make this

the year you begin to live

wholeheartedly

contentedly

bravely

joyfully

in your own home, in the midst of this crazy world.

 

I'm inviting you to find that part of yourself that longs to come home to a place that is uniquely "you" and comforts your soul as soon as you walk in the door. I'm inviting you to give up the silly notion of "perfection" and embrace the deep truth that "Home is Sanctuary," no matter how big or small, fancy or plain. It is the place where you create history, find your faith, accept each other's flaws, and give one another strength. It is where you'll find beauty and grace in everyday dishes, tossed backpacks and mismatched socks. It IS there....even if you don't see it right now. I'll show you.

 

Your home is your Sanctuary.

 

That's what this blog is all about. Join me in 2013 for a fresh approach to the things that fill your days and often sap your joy. Along the way, you'll find friendship, laughter and fun. Did I already say this? I'm a huge believer in fun.

 

Don't miss out on a life-changing year.

This is simple stuff, yes, but powerful.

 

Oh, we're going to get organized, and create schedules and make menu plan thingys, but more importantly, we are going to be brave...and true to ourselves. We will open our hearts to imperfection and let little bits of light shine into the dark corners of our lives. We will live wholeheartedly...and along the way, create sanctuary.

 

We will breathe.

 

Join me.

Love, Rachel Anne 

 

vvvvvv

 

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And when you sign up for my newsletter (don't worry, I won't bombard you!) you will be considered an "Official" Company Girl. We will breathe together.

 

Take my hand and let's make this our best year ever.

Death to Procrastination

Being a visual person, naturally I love charts and graphs. That's why I adore this Procrastination Flowchart so much. It just says it all so succinctly.

And as one who has mastered the Art of Procrastination, Today's Small Thing cuts right to my core by forcing me to....

Get One Procrastinated Task Done.

 

I say "just one" because at my house there are so many, it's hard to choose.  But I think I'm up to the challenge.

Last night I framed two photos that have been sitting there waiting for nearly 7 months....and it took me all of 10 minutes to hang them.  I love how they look on the wall, and I LOVE how good it feels to do such a simple task.  Now why didn't I do that sooner??

Go with me here, Company Girls.

• Do you have a bag of items sitting by the back door or in your closet that needs to be taken to a donation center?  How long has it been there?

• Do you have something that is almost completely painted, but because of interruptions, is not quite done?

• Do you have picture frames sitting around with no pictures in them because you can't choose which cute photos to put in?

• Do you have an article of clothing that needs a little, tiny stitch to be good as new, but just sits in the "fix it" pile?

• Do you have flowers in their 4 inch pots from the nursery that you fell in love with at the time, but now are wilting away because you haven't put them in the ground yet?

• Do you really need to clean out the pet area but just hate to invest that much energy on animals when there are people who need your attention?

• Do you have an item that needs to be returned to the store, but because you don't want to stand in the Customer Service line, just sits in its bag...waiting?

OK, only ONE of the above items is NOT on my list of things I am procrastinating.  Can you guess which one??

Today's Small Thing is to do ONE thing that you've been putting off. 

It doesn't have to be a big thing, like painting all the trim on your house (although, again, it's on my list), it can be as simple as hanging two framed prints on the wall.

IMPORTANT NOTE, PLEASE READ: I often find I procrastinate doing things that will give me pleasure.  In an odd way, it's a form of delayed gratification.  Or maybe even a way of putting others first.  Tasks like working in the flower bed, fixing a blouse, or painting a piece of furniture seem to benefit ME and are thus, easy to put off because I'm a bit of a martyr.  You too? I thought so. But listen. In the end, those tasks really benefit EVERYONE and will give your spirits a wonderful lift when you are through.

What task will you DO today, instead of putting off until tomorrow?

Song of the Day: Feels like Today, Rascal Flatts

Five Inch Turtle on a Three Inch Branch, and Other Impossible Things

Yeah, that's right.  I've seen it!  A FIVE INCH turtle on a THREE INCH branch!  The turtles in our pond sun themselves on anything that pokes up out of the water.  And there they lounge, on old logs and rocks...and even on a small stick.

I can't figure it out, but it happens.  With those short little legs....? And then they leap off with a splash as soon as you pass by.  Odd.

And here is another impossible thing:  our huge dog, desperate to get in the house while we were away, squeezed his enormously beefy body through a small pane in the back door.  If he hadn't been inside when we got home, evidenced by the broken window, we never would have believed it.

(Hairy Culprit outside scene of crime.)

Or this one: how a squirrel managed to elude my Jack Bauer husband for over a year, living in our attic and flaunting his presence every chance he got.  He finally got his due, but only after a year of stakeouts and tense tactical warfare.

Impossible things happen every day, and I need to be reminded of that....often. 

Sometimes my days seem impossible to overcome.  Yes, there are the busy ones that are packed too full to manage, but there are also days that stretch on endlessly before me, killing me with their boring sameness.  Oy, if I have to pick up another sock, wash another dish, separate another squabble, or listen to the same story again....why, I might just give up and lie here on the couch all day and watch TV.  It feels impossible to get motivated to make my life better than it is.

Today's Small Thing is to pick just one tiny thing that feels impossible, and take it on as a mission.

Mission: Impossible, if you will.

Do you have a goal that you never make any progress on?  Take a baby step toward it today.

Do you despise going through junk mail?  Give yourself 5 minutes to sort and toss.

Is your diet seeming like an impossible feat?  Today is another day.

Are you feeling like a failure as a mom?  Pick yourself up and give it another go today!  Don't wallow in yesterday's mistakes.

Laundry piles, bills, work, phone calls and projects.  Your mission, should you decide to take it, is to tackle one of those "impossible" things and see if you can accomplish it!  Be creative, feel free to involve your team, and ask yourself:  how would Tom Cruise do this??

POINTS: 50 Big, POSSIBLE points!

What's YOUR Mission Impossible today??

Wait a Minute

I've posted at Writer, Interrupted today.  I hope you'll stop over and visit me!

Learning to Fly

When you're learning something new, don't you just envy the people who make it look so easy?  It doesn't matter if it's a skill like knitting or a game like hockey, their years of experience give them confidence to do unconsciously well what takes our supreme effort to do poorly.

My husband, Tom, taught his hockey team that there are 4 levels of learning a new skill:

1. Unconscious Inability - You don't know what you don't know

2. Conscious Inability - Now you know what you don't know

3. Conscious Ability - You have to really work at being able to do it

4. Unconscious Ability - Now you can do it well without even thinking about it

It occurred to me that this sports lesson is perfectly applicable to almost anything in life, even our home lives.  We all start out fumbling with operating washing machines and diapering wiggly babies.  It's tempting to look at women who have been at it longer and think we'll never make it look that easy. 

But I've learned that if you keep after something long enough, it does get easier.  The trick is in not giving up before you get to the level of Unconscious Ability.  Parenting, marriage, home-management, cooking....they are skills that get better with time and repeated effort.

Today's Small Thing is to practice flying.  What are you learning to do well?  Preparing a nice meal, folding a load of clothes right from the dryer, being patient with your children, organizing your day, or having personal devotions might be some things you're working on.  Why, what a coincidence! Those are all on MY list!

Or maybe you're learning to fly as a single parent, as a new mom, or at a new job.  Major life changes will require extra time to be able to soar.  Don't give up before you succeed!  Just keep flapping!

POINTS: 40 for consciously learning to fly in some small way today, (a craft or new skill...you choose)

 Let us know: In what areas are you learning to fly and what level are you working through?  Add 10 points for sharing! (That's point frosting on the cake!)

Sanctuary is in the Small Things, 2008

Creating Sanctuary at home for yourself and for the people you love most is a lifelong journey. Along the way there are many wonderful days of joy and complete satisfaction, and then there are Those Days in which you can be overwhelmed with the chaos of daily life in this fast-paced world. I know because I’ve been there many times. Lord, help me, I'm there right now!

But over the years, one of the things that has helped me to have hope for experiencing true Home Sanctuary is to just make some kind of progress each day. Even the smallest of victories can buoy my spirits enough to keep me going.

I started looking at the tasks on my to-do list, and the things I want to do beyond that list to really make this place feel like a sanctuary, a refuge for my family. I realized that many (if not most) of them are very small things. It’s just that when they are added up together, the list can look so daunting I have a complete melt-down and can’t do ANY of it!

But what if I could do just one small thing each day to keep me moving in the right direction? If each thing took an average of 5 little minutes (loose change really), it would add up to 1,825 minutes in the course of a year! That’s about 30.5 hours of tasks, except they would in such small increments I’d hardly even remember doing them!

And what a difference just a tiny bit of effort makes! Sometimes I get so focused on the BIG things that I forget just how meaningful those small things can be.

On January 1, I’m going to start posting one “Small Thing” each weekday that I’m going try to do in my own home to create a little more sanctuary for my "peep's." I'll still post my other thoughts as I normally do, but these will just be daily snippets that I'd like to add.

I'm inviting you to join me in the small things because I think it will be much more fun with a Company Girl along.

Some of you may be way beyond my thinking here, but others of you know what it’s like to just need a lifeline to keep from drowning in a sea of despair.

Maybe you'd just like to have easy things to put on your list and then cross off.

Or perhaps you are wondering where to start to do things differently, to make a better life for your family.

Let's start with just one small thing at a time, period.

Most of the things will fall into the “Order” category, because it seems like that’s where I need it the most. Sometimes something as simple as clearing my countertops is enough to keep the wheels on for another day.

But there will also be small things to do foster “Peace” inside these walls. Peace in my relationships is really the foundation for everything else, and how often I need a gentle reminder to pay attention to what God is doing, and to pay attention my loved ones! Can Peace happen in 5 little minutes? Maybe not every time, but it can’t hurt to try.

Lastly, I will include simple things that we can all do to bring "Beauty" into our homes. Darn it, I want to live in a place that’s pretty and feels good! And even the rough and tough men around here like to see a fresh tablecloth on the table every now and then, even if they don’t admit it. Beauty is what appeals to all the senses to make home a special place.

This isn't going to be a complete Fly Lady cleaning routine. Besides the fact that the Fly Lady wears me out, I want to focus on the little things that matter beyond cleaning. And ya'll know I'm not Martha Stewart, with an unlimited staff and budget to work with. I'm on a shoestring here, my friends. It's gonna be quick, easy and inexpensive.

I am posting this now so that if you want to participate every day (or every now and then) next year, you can have a couple of weeks to think about it.

So, my dear Company Girls and Occasional Readers, I hope you’ll join me in doing just one "Small Thing" each day in 2008. I will post a list of supplies I think we'll need so it will be easy to stick to the 5 minutes (or so) rule. And don't worry: it's not going to be actual WORK. Some of it will be more fun than anything, you'll see!

As we approach the new year, I am praying for your homes and your families. I’m praying for your efforts and your hearts..... that each small thing you do will be a joy because it’s done out of gratitude and love.

Plus, what could be better than doing those small things with your friends?

C'Mon! Be a Company Girl!

Ladies, ya'll have simply overwhelmed me with your response to my invitation to be Company Girls!

I really and truly thought I might have 5 or 6 people along for the "Sanctuary is in the Small Things" adventure.  And just look how many of you have chimed in to create everyday sanctuaries for your families!  It tells me that there is a much bigger circle of friends than I ever thought possible and it just warms my heart. (sniff!)

If you are new to Home Sanctuary, I want to welcome you and make it a little easier to figure out what the Small Things "challenges" are all about.  I can hear you saying, "I thought I heard something about points and prizes....."

Here's what you need to know so you can start participating!

How do I become a Company Girl? 

Simply sign up for the newsletter. Then, stop in each day (or subscribe via RSS) to see what the Small Thing of the day is.  If you want to be added to the blog roll, you'll have to do that separately, in an email to me until I can figure out a better way to do it.

Why Become a Company Girl?

The short answer is:  just because we like each other's company and everything is better with a friend along.

Can non-bloggers join? 

Of Course!  About half of the Company Girls are non-bloggers.  Feel free to participate with your comments and emails!

What are Small Things? 

Read here and here to find out! 

Do I need any special supplies? 

Here's a short list that will help you get things done easily.  From time to time, I will let you know if there is something else you might need to participate.

How do you keep score? 

You are on an honor system to add the points you earn with each Small Thing you do.  There is a tally sheet pdf  in the "welcome" post at the top of the blog to make it easier to keep track of your points.

What happens if I miss some days? 

Don't worry, you can catch up during the month.  I will try and add enough ways to get points that you don't have to stress out over it!

Can I get my kids to help? 

Absolutely, YES!  Families should share ownership in creating their own special refuge.  There's no better team than the home team!

What are the prizes? 

You know I can't tell you EVERYTHING!  Let's just say I've been given some awesome things that I will roll out.  You'll want to stay tuned!

What if I can't do a Small Thing on the day it's assigned but I can the next day?  Can I still get points?

No points, sorry.  For now, you can just enjoy that warm feeling that you did a small, but important thing for your sanctuary.  Better late than never!  (Part of MY problem is procrastinating in doing those little things and I'd hate for anyone else to succumb to my nemesis.)

On a final note, the Small Things I am sharing are literally things off of my own "To Do" list.  Like your lives, my life is a juggling act.  I will try and answer emails and update the Company Girls list as best I can in a timely manner, but as I said, I THOUGHT I'd only have a handful of new friends!  You've blessed me immeasurably with your excitement and your hearts for creating home sanctuaries.  I know God will "establish the work of our hands" as we commit this year to Him! 

Thanks for coming along for the ride.

Rachel Anne