Lara Casey's Blog, page 18

Introducing The Cultivated Homeschool Planner

Long before our first day of homeschool, when I was still in the preparation stages, I was asked what curriculum we were using, what my best tips were, and even to speak at homeschool conventions. This felt a little like being asked to teach others how to ride a bike before I ever touched one myself.

August Progress + September PowerSheets Goals

I have been half-joking lately that my next book will be called, No. Alternate titles: The Year of No, All the Things God Has Told Me to Say No To, and my personal favorite, No, No, No.

How to Cultivate Your Calendar + Back To What Matters Sale

Have you seen this meme going around?

Image from Kaylyn Van Driesum via Letterfolk

Life can feel this way, right? But! What if there was a way to slow down the crazy train and be present right here—and prepared for what’s ahead?

There is!

Get my best tips and tools for cultivating your schedule and celebrating people well along the way in this free workshop: How to Cultivate Your Calendar. Watch now below!

A little forethought goes a long way! I’d love to hear your favorite takeaway from the workshop! What stood out to you the most?

To help you get back to what matters and use your time well in the season ahead, everything in the shop is 25% off TODAY ONLY.

Get back to organized.

Get back to fun.

Get back to balance.

Get back to encouragement.

Get back to community.

Get back to motivated.

Get back to planting seeds of faith.

Shop now for 25% off plus free shipping for domestic orders over $50! Offer ends at midnight tonight. 

The post How to Cultivate Your Calendar + Back To What Matters Sale appeared first on Lara Casey.

July Progress + August PowerSheets Goals

What a month July was! It was filled with many significant work events (our quarterly team Summit and our 2019 product shoot) and… the Great Peach Harvest of 2018! We’ve had our Elberta peach tree for 7 years and we’ve never had more than 1 – 2 peaches. Well, I’ve heard it said before (

Making Things Happen 2018: Join me this September!

In 2009, I posted a blog entry answering a question I’d recently been emailed: “How do you make things happen?”

That blog post (“How to Make Things Happen“) started making waves. Those waves grew quickly into a movement of women who wanted to finally do the things they’d always wanted to do.

A friend suggested I take the ideas I had shared in that post on the road and teach them. Before I knew it, Emily Ley, Gina Zeidler and I were traveling all across the country doing the Making Things Happen Workshop!

MTH Spring 2017! Photo by Amy Nicole.

But, here’s where the story takes a turn.

I did all the things I wanted to do, too (at the time). I had a growing business. I was traveling and speaking and doing creative work. But, it came at a cost. I didn’t know how to balance it all, and lived firsthand that doing too much of (even) a good thing is too much. My marriage was falling apart. I was working 24/7 at the expense of everything else. My work became my worth. You can read the whole story in my book Make It Happen.

I couldn’t succeed on mere passion and gusto. I had to learn to make the right things happen. I began learning these truths:

Making things happen means knowing that you don’t have to do it all, be it all, or have it all.

Making things happen is about focusing on what MATTERS–on growing what lasts longer than you.

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Making things happen means learning to say NO to what is holding you back, and YES to your unique assignment–not someone else’s assignment.

Making things happen means making decisions that will get you to where you want to be when you’re 80 years old.

Making things happen means taking risks, taking action, and embracing tension.

Making things happen—the right things—changes everything.

As I began learning these truths and living them, the Making Things Happen movement did a 180-degree turn, too. We got off the road and turned the intensive into a two-day conference here in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. But, the biggest change of all was teaching attendees that last truth above — how to make the right things happen.

While everyone else keeps saying what they’ve always said—“Do more! Be more!”—here we are, nine years later (9 years!), teaching something entirely different: do less. Do what matters.

Need some of that in your life?

I want you to join me this September!

Meet the Fall 2018 Encouragement Crew! 

Who is MTH for? Here’s another way MTH is different from other conferences. You won’t be listening to a panel of speakers tell you how to do things; you’ll be led through a powerful process where YOU uncover good goals and make an action plan that fits your specific life and dreams. MTH is for everyone: love-at-home moms, corporate CEOs, students, retirees, creatives, non-creatives, and everyone in between. Whether you know what you want to make happen and need an action plan, or you need help uncovering good goals, MTH is for you. And all ages join us, from college freshmen to women in their 60’s who are ready for a new chapter in life! The unifying factor among our attendees is a desire to live intentionally and make the most of their time and gifts.

MTH is unlike any other conference. It’s like doing PowerSheets in person and meeting a group of women who think like you and will cheer you on in every step forward. Together, we uncover what matters to you and do something about it. Every time I lead this conference, I do the work right along with the attendees. And every time I’m changed. There’s no magic to it, but we have learned a lot over these nine years that helps women simplify and take action.

You might be a mother or wife who is struggling to balance family responsibilities. You might be a working professional trying to run with a big idea. Or you might be a small business owner burning the candle at both ends. (Or all of the above!) If you’re ready to use your potential on purpose, MTH is for you.

I love getting to know you at MTH! Photo by Carrie Joy Osborne

I want you to join me in Chapel Hill on September 24 and 25th for our 53rd experience! This is the only conference I’ll be speaking at in 2018. Many of you have told me you’d love to come. Take the leap. I’ve been doing this conference for nine years and I believe in the work we are doing. Your gifts have a purpose and they were meant to be used!

The early-bird rate ($1000 off) ends July 31—or until we sell out—and we’ve sold out every conference. Want to take a peek inside the conference? Take a look here. I can’t wait to see you there!

You know all those things you’ve always wanted to do? Now is your time to do the right things.

Don’t miss this: GET YOUR SEAT NOW!

How it feels when you finish day 2 of MTH (Meeta came all the way from India!)…

Photos by Rachel Coffey 

See you there!

P.S. We’re giving away one scholarship seat in memory of my long-time friend, Yvette Price, who embodied all that we teach at MTH. She was courageous in her battle with cancer and made what matters happen despite great challenges. In her honor, we’re grateful to give away one seat to either an alum or new attendee. This scholarship is for the full ticket price not including travel or accommodations. Enter below to win the Yvette Price Scholarship by July 31st! Note: If you are our lucky winner and have already purchased your ticket, we will issue you a full refund. Don’t miss your chance to purchase a ticket before we sell out!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

I’d love to hear from you: what do you want to make happen?

The post Making Things Happen 2018: Join me this September! appeared first on Lara Casey.

June Progress + July PowerSheets Goals

Well, friends…

A lot has happened since I wrote to you 32 days ago! As I was writing my June goals post to you, the Southern Weddings announcement day was coming a few days later. I was admittedly nervous—I cried just about every day for two weeks (sometimes a few tears and sometimes a legit ugly cry!), partly in sadness but mostly in gratitude for the last decade. I was nervous, but also excited to share the news with you and be able to move forward past the unknown of, “How is this announcement going to go??”

The Southern Weddings transition occupied much of my heart and my prayers over the last year. While letting go of good things—especially things that have been a part of my life for a so long—was bittersweet, we are all grateful to have stepped into a new chapter. I can share with you now, with even greater confidence than ever before, that pruning is good. At some points in our lives, we have to let go in order to grow.

But, pruning our lives can be hard, right? 

Even letting go of these peach buds on our tree felt like cutting off good fruit. But, we do it to make the other fruit sweeter. The tree can rest a little and not be spread so thin. It’s the same with our lives, right? When we let go of trying to do it all, we make room the right things to grow well.

Here’s a recap of my goal progress from June and my July goals are below too!

June Monthly Goals:

— The Lifegiving Parent Book Club with Ari. — We are four chapters in, and this book has blown me away! It has changed the way I look at parenting and our home. I have dogeared so many pages. A favorite quote of many: “You cannot teach your children what you don’t already know. Moses made that clear in the Shema: ‘These commandments that I give to you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children’ (Deuteronomy 6:6-7; emphasis added). You cannot impress on your children’s hearts what is not already on your own. …. You both are feeding them from the life of God that is in your own spirits…” A simple but profound truth. It’s not about checking things off a list as a parent; it’s about Whose I am first. It starts with me.

My three little loves “fishing” in the pond nearby—in their PJ’s no less!

How One Small Step Forward Can Change Everything

You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. – Jim Rohn

Wow! Does that hit you like it does me? Every time we talk about this concept at the Making Things Happen Conference, it changes us.

Those five people could be family members, friends, or even people on social media you’ve never met. The people and things we allow into our lives the most have a profound effect on our thoughts—and our future outcomes. This is one of the many reasons I’m grateful to have you, the Cultivate What Matters family, as a collective one of my “five!”

I am passionate about encouraging you, but you encourage me to live out what matters a hundredfold. (Your support last week was a gift!)

You fight alongside me each day to pay attention to what matters—what lasts. You are living this out! I read every comment and message, and I love following your journeys. You inspire me to say no to distractions and keep my eyes focused on truth.

You are encouragers—helping to build women up right where they are. Case in point: how you welcomed our two new team members, Ashlea + Jordan, to the Cultivate family last week!

Get to know each of us—and what we do—here.

You are strong and capable and ready for the second half of the year, even when you feel like you have no idea what you are doing.

And you don’t mess around when it comes to taking action on goals that matter to you!

This month, you have taken first steps on mid-year goals and WOW! What a month this has been! I have loved doing live goal coaching with you, seeing so many lightbulbs go off as you continue to take those first steps.

Our Goal-Getters board and walls (!) are filled with YOUR names. And we’re still going—take a step forward on a goal that matters to you and we will put your name on the board! We want to cheer you on because little-by-little progress is worth celebrating. When one woman steps forward on something that matters to her, do you know what happens? It creates a ripple effect. You are world changers, friends!

I took my own steps forward this month too—specifically on two of my yearly goals that are related:

Love the things above, not the things of the world: cultivating contentment in our children, clearing out the stuff and information overload, and generous and wise stewardship of what we’ve been entrusted with.
Cultivate the fruit of the Spirit in motherhood: growing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control in their hearts by our family seeking after God Himself above everything else.

To move forward on these goals, I wanted to start “morning time” in our family: gathering the kids together at the table each morning to grow our faith and family bond.

I’ve been wanting to do this all year, but couldn’t figure out how to do it. There were a few logistical roadblocks. First, we didn’t have a table where everyone could sit together, spread out, and make a mess. We had the dining room table, but the chairs were not exactly kid-and-craft-friendly (ha!). When Ari and I moved into our house seven years ago, before we had kids, we bought white upholstered dining chairs. Not ideal for kiddos! We also didn’t have a time that seemed to work. And how could I keep all three kids’ attention for more than a few seconds together?

For months, I did nothing. I thought about it, but I couldn’t figure out how to move forward and make it work long-term. I wanted to make morning time a regular rhythm in our house, but these small logistical things seemed to stand in my way (which feels silly now looking back!). I did nothing—until I saw all of YOU making leaps forward on your goals this month, breaking through obstacles big and small.

You lit a fire under me!

I decided that, since we used our dining room table maybe once a month at most, this would be the place. Kids crafts and books would make a welcome centerpiece! : )

My first action step: I went to find a few boxes that I could use to fill with morning time supplies. I made a box for each kiddo and filled each with Write the Word for Kids journals, craft supplies, and a few books.

I made myself a box, too. Inside: my Write the Word journal, Bible, pens, and some homeschool books.

And… I bought these wipable indestructible chairs to replace the not-so-kid-friendly upholstered ones from IKEA that were falling apart anyway. Bonus: they came fully assembled.

Up next: It was time to give this morning time thing a try for the first time.

Starting new things for the first time can be tricky, right? Whether it’s starting a new routine in your family or starting a magazine, fear can try to stop us at the starting line.

What if it doesn’t work?

What if this fails?

How do you move forward on goals that matter to you when you feel fear?

First things first (and this is the key that most people miss!): break your goal down into itsy-bitsy tiny steps—the smaller, the more likely you are to DO them. Once you break your goal down, you may find that you can’t help but take action—fear has less of a hold on you because smaller steps aren’t as daunting. (For more on breaking goals down into mini goals, read here.)

In the big and small things, you get to choose: fear or faith.

Breaking it down helps you move from fear to I’m doing this!

I gathered all the kiddos at the table with some snacks (a tip I learned from my friend, Sally Clarkson—snacks make new things more appealing!), I prayed for us, and I read them a book while they colored.

That was it.

It lasted for 15 minutes and it. was. awesome.

This may seem so simple, but that’s exactly the point. Our first morning time at the table together, with the sun peeking in, was simple and beautiful and life-giving for all of us. One day led to two, two led to a week, and now we’re three weeks in. This daily rhythm has changed our family!

You know all those things you’ve always wanted to do?

Big or small, you should go DO them.

Starting morning time was important to me because I see how it will have a ripple effect in our family—and hopefully their own families—for years to come. Learning has happened at the table. Conversation has happened here. Togetherness has happened here. And it didn’t take any grand planning. Just a few intentional steps forward.

Cultivating what matters means doing small things that add up to the big things.

Thinking big picture, and taking small intentional steps forward.

I don’t have an agenda each time I sit down with them; I do what is best for that day and each of thier nurturing needs at that moment. Some mornings we read, some mornings we paint, some mornings we color, and on homeschool days, the other kiddos do whatever they like at the table while Grace and I work through reading, handwriting, and other activities. Sometimes the younger two end up playing legos on the floor, and sometimes we have music. We just go with it!

There are often interruptions and tantrums and challenges, too, but the “imperfections” are part of the blessing of this time. Part of the learning is working through big emotions and “I wanted the yellow crayon!” moments together. : )

This time (usually from 7:30-8-ish before I start work) lasts anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes. How long we do it doesn’t matter as much as doing it with the right heart: to seek Him and delight in the creative gifts God has given each of us.

And it all began with one small step forward: I went to find boxes.

Sometimes, the hardest part of starting something is proverbially “putting on your shoes,” right? Once you take the first step, the momentum grows.

Our first day above—I was still waiting on the chairs to arrive, but we dove in anyway! 

Your turn! What one step forward have you taken—or plan to take—on a goal that matters to you? Leave a comment here with your one step and I’ll add your name to our office Goal Getters Board!

I hope my story encourages you to dig in and take the first step. You never know how that one step forward might change everything!

—

Up next, I’ll be sharing more practical ways I’ve taken action on these goals: 8 Ways to Infuse Scripture into Your Home. Look for that next week!

The post How One Small Step Forward Can Change Everything appeared first on Lara Casey.

A New Chapter

I started Southern Weddings magazine late one night with a husband deployed to war and no formal training in journalism or publishing. I didn’t have experience, but I did have more passion than a hen has feathers. I wanted to inspire couples to tell their unique love stories, rich with family history and rooted in the culture of this place we call home—the South. The place where my grandparents had lived out their own love story decades before—a love story that changed me and my family.

I wanted to do something with my life, using the gifts I had been given to help people cultivate what matters. But, that was the extent of my grand vision. I didn’t know where this would lead, exactly. I just knew it needed to exist. I had a tiny seed… and I took a leap of faith and planted it. I thought this would grow into a small publication. Perhaps we’d print it ourselves and put it in neighborhood grocery stores and local churches.

God had a different plan.

Dear friends, I did not expect this would be my path—our path. I sit here writing to you from my home in North Carolina with three little ones, a husband I am so grateful for, and ten issues of Southern Weddings that have brought with them a lifetime of treasured memories.

If you have known us for any length of time—from a day to a decade—you know that our heartbeat is to help women uncover what matters most and intentionally live that out. We heartily embrace the truth that we can’t do it all and do it well, but we can choose to cultivate what matters right where we are.

Many times, cultivating what matters means making hard decisions.

Sometimes, it means letting go of good things to make room for even better things to come.

It is with bittersweet expectation that I share with you what we’ve been praying about and wrestling with for a long while: the time has come for us to turn the page on the Southern Weddings story. The tenth anniversary issue was the final issue for our team. The Southern Weddings site will soon transition to a robust archive, giving our readers and future brides access to the timeless content we’ve worked so hard to create over the last decade together.

This is a bittersweet change for us, and perhaps a surprise to many of you. Southern Weddings has continued to grow: we had our best year ever in 2017, celebrated our tenth anniversary, and yet—we found ourselves at a crossroads. You see, we are a unique company with two brands under one small roof: Southern Weddings and Cultivate What Matters.

As both Southern Weddings and Cultivate have grown over these last years, we have been stretched as a team. Both companies are making an impact on people’s lives and hold so much continued growth potential. But, like I have written about in both Make it Happen and Cultivate, you can only grow so much in one space. If you grow too much—even good things—they start to take nutrients away from each other. At the rate both brands have been growing, supporting two companies would be unsustainable in the long-term.

You might be thinking, “Why not just do it all? Why can’t you hire more people? Why can’t you adjust to the growth? How can you let go of something so good?“

Therein lies the entire mission and heartbeat of what we do. Living on purpose often means making hard decisions for the greater good. We are nine women, most of whom work here in my home office in Chapel Hill. We want to have a profound impact on this world while maintaining the quality of life that is so important to our team and families. That means being all-in wherever we are.

We believe we have completed the work we were given to do with Southern Weddings. We created something that was built to last. Many of our readers have saved their issues for their children and grandchildren. I have done the same. The heart of this magazine is ever-beating. It lives on because meaningful love stories can change the world long after the stories themselves have been lived. We believe our best work is before us and we’ve had to make this hard decision to be able to give our whole selves to it.

This was an incredibly prayer-covered decision. We have met with business leaders, gotten wise counsel, and taken many months to just listen. We listened and we waited for the plan to be revealed. Times of waiting for answers can be times of ripening. In the wait, and in countless conversations, our team grew closer as we wrestled with this decision together. How can we let this go? What would that look like? How can we best serve people? Is there another publisher who could take this over? When God finally gave me clarity on moving forward with closing this chapter for our team, what gave me great peace was that He gave the same clarity to the team, too.

Everyone’s willingness to embrace change has been extraordinary. (Dearest team, I love you.) We have felt sadness in this change, but more than that, we feel gratitude for this decade—and gratitude for the opportunities we have to continue to use our gifts to change the world and help you use yours, too.

As you can imagine, letting go of something I poured my heart and soul and prayers—and over a decade of my life—into isn’t easy. As I sit here about to hit publish on this note to you, there are tears running down my cheeks. I have been overcome with emotion many times over the last months. Southern Weddings changed my life, my family, and my marriage, and thousands of others have experienced the same impact as we’ve helped couples plan meaningful beginnings to married life. We have created something meaningful and beautiful that will, Lord willing, continue to change lives long after I’m gone. I continue to stand in awe that God wrote Southern Weddings into my story. After a decade, it still doesn’t feel real! He can use imperfect people, with imperfect stories, to change the world.

Southern Weddings has changed all of us… and the best is yet to come.

Seeing Southern Weddings on the shelf this past December. After ten years, the thrill of newsstand sightings never faded!

The Cultivate brand has grown exponentially in the last few years, and we have been equipped and tasked with shepherding it well. With this change, we believe we will not only be able to continue to do the work of strengthening meaningful relationships, but we will be able to do it even more effectively, reaching not just brides, but women of varied life stages and seasons.

Our goal is to change a culture, helping women to cultivate what matters right where they are: helping women live purposeful lives. Helping all of us to embrace the power of progress, not perfection. Helping women embrace change and find confidence in their unique paths.

Perhaps you have been considering a change of your own. We hope our story will encourage you to know that…

— It’s okay to let go of one dream to make room for something else.

— It’s okay to not be able to “do it all.”

— It’s okay to embrace change. Change is hard, but it can be life-giving for you and countless others.

— You can do hard things. Good things come from hard things, and saying no to one thing means you are saying yes to something else.

— You can write a new story. You can grow something that lasts longer than you. It all starts with a tiny seed.

— And… endings can be new beginnings.

We believe our team has done the work we were given to do with Southern Weddings, and that is much in thanks to YOU for your passionate, generous, and enthusiastic support.

A favorite memory: laughing in the cornfield with some of the biggest hearts in the South.

The last decade of Southern Weddings has been filled with memories and stories and meaningful relationships grown. From the honor of getting to tell your love stories to magical launch parties at the Carolina Inn, countless emails from readers telling us our work changed their marriages, sending thousands of magazine orders out of my garage, my kids being a part of this amazing adventure, having a partnership with Southern Living, getting to create with incredibly gifted and generous artists, countless hours doing the layout for the magazine myself in the early years, happy dancing over weddings, enjoying the magic of the South together, and celebrating engagements and marriages and babies on our team along the way, what brings us joy in this new chapter is knowing those things have not been lost.

Dear friends—readers, brides, vendors, moms, sisters, friends, and many more—thank you. Thank you for believing in this dream that started with the hope of bringing beauty into a broken world while my husband was deployed to Iraq. I never imagined what the ten years that followed would hold, and I want you to know that your support—no matter how seemingly small or large—has changed the world.

Photo credits from top to bottom: Jose Villa, Ryan Ray, KT Merry, Landon Jacob.

The post A New Chapter appeared first on Lara Casey.

May Progress + June PowerSheets Goals

Imagine it.

December 31st rolls around. You’re sitting down to dinner with family or friends, and you talk together about the story of the last 6 months.

What story will you tell?

The stories of our lives are made up of little decisions we make each day.

Do we say yes or no?

Do we start something new or grow what we already have?

Do we move forward or stay right where we are?

We can’t predict the future—our lives are in God’s hands. But, do you know what else is true? He gives us choices. We get to decide the next best step right where we are, depending on our particular season and circumstances.

If you’re like me though, thinking about my choices adding up to a new life and direction can feel exciting and also challenging. Why? Imagining a changed life takes faith. It takes believing in what I can’t yet see. It takes putting my trust in God’s plans over my own and stepping out on faith with Him.

I have to choose faith over fear! This life is the only one we get here on this earth. Today is the only June 1, 2018, we get. The things I do today have a ripple effect—changing my story, our children’s, and potentially countless others.

My little loves talking together and eating sweet peas in the Magical Garden.

To cultivate what matters, we think big picture and take small intentional steps forward.

A whole lot can happen in 6 months of small decisions adding up!

Come December 31, what story do you want to be telling?

The story I want to tell is, We stepped out on faith. We loved God with all of our hearts and souls and strength. And in the many times we were weak and messed up, His power was made perfect in our weakness. Look at what God did! Six months from now, I want to look back and see a family rooted in the Word. In community. A family in love with the Lord and deeply connected to each other.

What about you?

4 things you can do right now to prepare well for the month ahead and the rest of this year:

1. Write out the story you want to tell on December 31st. We can’t predict the future, but we can make intentional decisions in one direction or another. Write a few sentences about what story you want to tell. There’s power in writing things down—our brains and hearts begin to make decisions about them!

2. Make a “Move Forward Summer” list. I did this last week and it was so helpful—so much so that 90% of what I wrote down has already changed! In the writing, I started making decisions on how to change those things. Write out your list starting with, “I want to move forward from…” An excerpt from my own Move Forward Summer List:

I want to move forward from always being in my head. Hearing what I think people’s motives are even if it’s a story and not a fact. The more I think about a perception that isn’t yet a proven fact, the more it becomes my reality.

I want to move forward from often feeling broken, imperfect, emotional, too much.

Honesty breeds clarity, and wow did I get some clarity writing my list!

3. Join the free Cultivate Book Club. From now till August 7th, we’re reading my book, Cultivate, together—with a virtual book club party at the end! Join the easiest book club ever.

4. Get ready for Mid-Year Goals Prep Week! Starting Monday, we’re spending 5 days intentionally preparing to make the most of the next six months. And you get to choose your adventure! What do you need most?

Need a kick in the pants? Join us for daily live coaching.

Need help getting started with your PowerSheets? We’ll be digging in with you!

Need some goal-getter friends to cheer you on? Cultivate Community Groups launch Monday.

Need some real-life examples from others? Be sure to follow us on social for inspiring stories and daily pep talks.

Need some motivation to take that action step you’ve been putting off? This is where we’re gonna get a little crazy. We’re going to take those action steps LIVE together (I have some amazing prizes that will motivate you)!

All the details are headed to inboxes first thing on Monday morning! If you’re not on the newsletter list, sign up now!

The small decisions we make today matter. And they add up.

What story do you want to tell? What decisions do you need to make today to move boldly in that direction?

I’m writing a new story in this second half of the year, and you can too.

There’s nothing magical about January 1st—June 1st has a nice ring to it though!

Pulling out the pansies and violas from the fall with my mom!

Here’s a recap of my goal progress from May and my June goals are below too!

May Monthly Goals:

— Be a Woman of the Word instead of the world – Yes, I made progress here. It was a battle some days, but I tried my best to choose the Bible over distractions.

— Set our summer homeschool plan – Yes! More below in my June goals.

— Finish and implement Emotionally Healthy Spirituality – I made progress, but haven’t finished yet. Continuing to read this in June! Have you read it? I’d love to hear!

— Q2 rocks prayer time (we call our quarterly work goals “rocks”) – Yes, and I have made big progress on all of my rocks, praise Him! 

— Prayer journal date – This is a date with God to pour my heart out and get still. I usually do this on a night Ari is working late. I light a candle and simply fill out all the prayer prompts. I pray daily throughout the month, but having one dedicated longer time alone with God has been a helpful rhythm for me this year, especially at the start of a new month.

— Start Write the Word Wednesdays – Yes! See here.

After I write the Word, I write notes to Grace in the margins of her Bible.

May Weekly Goals:

— Praise! with the kiddos. – We had some challenges in May (hashtag 2 two-year-olds), but intentional praise kept us moving in the right direction. This came in the form of talking about things we’re grateful for, praise dance parties, praising God in prayer, and expressing thanks out in the garden. More on that below!

— Worship + church in the garden – Yes, we have noticed new sprouts and marveled at the bees that God made. I also had a really special visit with my mom. We gardened late into the night one evening and it was a memory I’ll never forget. I praised Him as it was happening for our meaningful conversation as we were digging in the dirt together.

— Celebrate others! – Yes. We’re had birthdays and milestones and it’s a joy to support such wonderful and talented friends—like my dear friend Hannah launched her new book this week and my friend Sally who you will read about in my June goals!

May Daily Goals:

— Bible – Yes, even though I missed a day and got really mad about it! Hear that story here.

— Pray over the kids. Even though they get super squirmy when I pray over them and somehow the mention of, “Dear God…” makes them all want to be silly, every night and at times throughout the day, I hold them and pray over them.

— Exercise hard – I am claiming little by little progress here! I’ve done my best to do small running spurts on our morning walks. The kids love going fast in the stroller, so that’s some motivation!

Also in May, I taught a live webinar that you can see for free: Top 5 Ways to Finally Move Forward on Your Goals. This was one of my favorite live classes ever! I hope you enjoy it too!

I took Grace to get a plant she’s been asking me for forever: a red hibiscus. I blame emojis!

GARDENING 101: Tips for Happy Houseplants

So, I have a few houseplants.

Just a few.