Using Google Calendar to Organize your Family Schedule + Menu Plan Fridays

As I shared in my post "Let's Organize", I've been trying to get our home back on a schedule.

The past two weeks we've had a fairly good routine, but it's still not there yet. And I've begun to feel that familiar panic when I have too much to do and too little time.  So, I took a moment and ran through all my responsibilities in my head, and the panic went up 3 notches.

Then I realized that I can do it all - I just have to be more intentional and organized!

And here to help me is....(drum roll please...)

Google Calendar!

This is what it looks like:

If you've never used Google Calendar before, it is very simple.

1. From any Google page, you'll find the link at the top under your address bar.  Click on the date and time you want to schedule an event.  

2. If it's a one time event, you can use the small pop-up box, otherwise click on "edit event" and you'll be taken to a screen where you can add more information about the event and schedule it to repeat daily, weekly (weekdays, on certain week days, etc), monthly or annually.

This is great for keeping track birthdays, anniversaries and holidays, too!

At every event you receive an email reminder.  

Plus you can color-code it,  too and keep multiple calendars going in one place! I have color codes set up from when I used Google Calendar before - for family events, blogging and ministry events - and I plan to use them again.  

The best part is, by keeping to this strict schedule, I get Saturday off.  Clean house, laundry done, baking done, blogging done, comments answered, severely neglected emails answered, severely neglected FB page updated, and all my work and ministry done!

On top of that...

When the kids go to bed, I wont have to work.

I can't wait for next week!!!

Now - for menu planning:

Z is third shift next week, so I have to choose meals that I can prep quickly while the kids are alone in the living room.  I try to make one meal last two days. Plus he usually stops by the bakery on his way home, so I am not planning breakfasts this week, except for Sunday.

Monday: Lunch - Chicken in a cream sauce with Gnocchi, fresh salad

Tuesday:  Lunch - Leftovers

Wednesday: Breakfast - Lunch - Meatballs (sauce recipe to come), fresh salad

Thursday: Breakfast - Lunch - Varivo

Friday: Lunch - Leftovers

Saturday: Lunch - Chicken enchiladas (recipe to come)

Sunday: Breakfast - Tuna Salad on Toast / Lunch - Baked chicken with potato slices (recipe to come)

Linking up with some these blogs:

M: Motivation Monday, Gracelaced Mondays, Playdates at the Wellspring, Mom's the Word   T: Titus2 Tuesdays, Women Helping Women, W: Women Living Well, Wisdom Wednesday, Wholehearted Wednesdays, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, Deep Roots at Home Th: Thrive at Home, Serving Joyfully F: Faith Filled Friday, TGIF Fridays

The Little Things + A Little R & R Wednesdays - A Linky Party!

Before we start the party, I just want to share with you a few things that gave me joy this week.

He loves that shovel!

My ice-cream faced Andrej

I love the smell of line-dried laundry!

Major cute factor here!

There is seriously nothing cuter than a toddler wearing his shoes on the wrong feet!

What brought you rays of joy this week?

****

And now for the party!!!

Link up as many posts on any subject you desire (except giveaways)

Link up those posts that you wish would have gotten more attention Come on - you know what I'm talking about.  I'll be linking up a few of my own, too.  

Link back to A Little R & R with the button or a link

Visit at least one other linked up post and leave a thoughtful comment

Tweet: Join the party at A Little R & R Wednesdays - A Linky Party!

The one with the most clicks will be featured the following week.

The party runs from Wednesday through Saturday

So link up and have fun!

Linking up with some these blogs:

M: Motivation Monday, Gracelaced Mondays, Playdates at the Wellspring, Mom's the Word   T: Titus2 Tuesdays, Women Helping Women, W: Women Living Well, Wisdom Wednesday, Wholehearted Wednesdays, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, Deep Roots at Home Th: Thrive at Home, Serving Joyfully F: Faith Filled Friday, Favorite Friday Things, Just For Fun Friday; TGIF Fridays

David vs. Religion

It would seem to be a contradiction of scripture, although we've been told all of our lives that all of scripture is is breathed by the Holy Spirit, and that it contains no errors.

But there are parts of scripture that we have trouble at times reconciling because they don't seem to add up.

Take the man in the Old Testament who committed adultery and then committed murder to cover it up. He is considered to be a man after God's own heart. Then take the some men in the New Testament who served God their whole lives. They literally had the entire scripture memorized. They spent countless hours day and night studying it, praying, fasting, tithing and serving in the temple. And yet Jesus called them white-washed tombs and said they were full of evil.

How is it that the man who committed sins worthy of being stoned to death is considered a man after God's own heart, while those who dedicated their entire lives to studying His Word, prayer and service for Him be criticized and passed over?

Relationship

It's not what we do for God that matters as much as the fountain from whence it flows.

Why do we read the Bible?

Why do we pray?

Why do we fast?

Why do we tithe?

Why do we attend church?

Why do we memorize scripture?

If we do these things simply because it is what we do as Christians then we are no better than the Pharisees who were called “brood of vipers” and “filled with dead-man's bones”.

God isn't pleased with performance. Our fulfillment of His commands does not meet some needy place in His heart. He isn't motivated to act on our behalf because we've been “good little Christians”. And our adherence to His word isn't always proof of our level of maturity or dedication.

If this were so, then the examples in the Word would be reverse.

What pleases God is our desire for relationship with Him and our investment in it. When prayer, Bible reading, fasting, tithing, memorization of His Word and church attendance flow out of our growing and active relationship with Him he is pleased!

David wasn't a man after God's own heart because he was obedient, knew the scriptures, or could quote the prophets. He wasn't perfect, he wasn't even obedient. He was given to times of depression, his emotions were up and down, and he did some very terrible things. But God called him a man after His heart because David knew the importance of true repentance.

He understood what true repentance was because He had a deep, abiding relationship with God. He could feel the pain God felt, the joy God felt – and he felt it all very deeply.

When Nathan the prophet revealed to David the depth of the sin he committed, David fell on his face and repented with weeping and fasting for days. He realized how deeply He had offended God. He felt the depth of the grief God felt over his sin. He felt it to the depth that God felt it. And this was only possible because He already had a deep and abiding relationship with God.

God isn't looking for your performance. He isn't counting how many Sunday's a month you attend church. He isn't counting how many verses or chapters out of the Bible you read. He isn't counting the number of minutes you pray each day. He doesn't measure your dedication to Him by your track record as a Christian. He is looking for an abiding relationship with Him. Because if these things do not flow out of relationship, they are meaningless, religious performances that only stroke our egos, and measuring rods by which we compare our fellow brothers' and sisters' level of spirituality. Things which have no place in God's Kingdom.

I am in awe that the Lord of all creation wants to be in relationship with me! But it's true! He does. All we need do is reach out to Him. He has already come halfway, by His death on the cross. He is waiting for you to reach out and take His hand, and enter into an eternal relationship of grace, love mercy, and redemption.

Linking up with some these blogs:

M: Motivation Monday, Gracelaced Mondays, Playdates at the Wellspring, Mom's the Word   T: Titus2 Tuesdays, Women Helping Women, W: Women Living Well, Wisdom Wednesday, Wholehearted Wednesdays, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, Deep Roots at Home Th: Thrive at Home, Serving Joyfully F: Faith Filled Friday, Favorite Friday Things, Just For Fun Friday; TGIF Fridays

Mothers

*This is a post I wrote two years ago.  I think it expresses best how I'm feeling today.  I just edited it a bit - expanded it a bit - and I wish mothers everywhere a wonderful and special Mother's Day*

Robi

It was on Mother's Day four years ago that I decided to do a pregnancy test because I was bored.  A few minutes later a 2nd line appeared on the cassette and I stood there in awe and couldn't stop staring.  All day long that cassette sat there on the washing machine, and all day long I kept going back to make sure the 2nd line was still there.  After the ups and downs I had faced on my journey to motherhood, I couldn't believe that in 8 short months I'd be a mom.  A real, live mom! Then 21 months later I became a mom again!

Andrej

Motherhood has been thrilling, exhausting, rewarding, and sometimes just plain hard.  But, there is no way that I'd trade anything - not anything (even sleep) for all the joys and trials I have faced and will face even still.  

My Precious Miracles!

I'd like to also honor my mom.  If there ever was a woman to look up to, imitate, and learn from about how to be a godly woman, wife and mother, it's my mom.  I have learned so many things from her.  She has sacrificed so much for us over the years, and I have never heard her complain - not once.  She gives with joy and has such a grateful spirit; she creatively found ways to provide for us when we didn't have a lot of money. She gave up a lot to stay home with us, homeschool us (through high school - she deserves a Ph.D. for that!) and did it all with such grace.  She is the example I look to as a mom. She is my hero.

I would be remiss not to mention my mother-in-law.  I'll confess, before I got married. the idea of having a mother-in-law was enough to make me break out in hives.  My friends had told me of their mothers-in-law (and usually it they were not pleasant stories) and I'd heard all the jokes and comments. But after meeting Iva, I realized that I had nothing to fear.  I have the best relationship with my mother-in-law.  I have learned so much from her - how to garden, home remedies found in my yard, how to make blue-ribbon mashed potatoes; I admire her greatly. She is the truly the best mother-in-law one could have.  And I am to be envied!

Today I am also remembering my Grandmothers: Beatrice and Mary.  Two lovely ladies who loved Jesus with all their hearts.  I get choked up thinking about them - the funny times we've had laughing until we cried, the meaningful conversations we had, and I miss them both. 

I'd like to also honor my sisters, Bonnie and Stella.  Two great moms and the best sisters in the whole world!

And last (but not least) I wish all of you out there a wonderful Mother's Day.   

May your day be filled with joy.  

May your children arise and called you blessed.

May your husband take pleasure and joy in all that you do.

May you find joy in the calling God has called you to all the days of your life.

And may your home be always filled with child-like laughter!

Happy Mother's Day!

Linking up with some these blogs:

M: Motivation Monday, Gracelaced Mondays, Playdates at the Wellspring, Mom's the Word   T: Titus2 Tuesdays, Women Helping Women, W: Women Living Well, Wisdom Wednesday, Wholehearted Wednesdays, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, Deep Roots at Home Th: Thrive at Home, Serving Joyfully F: Faith Filled Friday, Favorite Friday Things, Just For Fun Friday; TGIF Fridays