To Remember, To Forget
I'm always making lists of tasks, items to buy, things to look up (hello language learning). It's not that I'm task-oriented; I'm decidedly not. One Enneagram expert calls 9s and 4s, my husband and I respectively, "doing-resistant". So that's why I write lists. Sometimes they're general, like "prepare for Bible study." Other times they're insanely detailed, like "write newsletter, create mail merge, send newsletter." Check. Check. Check!
After a spring in lockdown and the most boring, disappointing summer ever, September has brought school and many (but not all) of our old activities, but none of the relational connections that make all the busyness worthwhile. This is a recipe for disaster for me, a relational introvert.
So I tried to create a list to help me settle the heck down. Maybe, somehow, September can be emptied of the stress of this year and full of joy. I'm aiming for less detail, more depth. Less obsessing, more sensing. Less worry, more whimsy. So here's my soul list for September. Some things to remember, some to forget, a few tasks to cross off and a few purposeful purchases. Maybe you'll find something to add to your list as well.
To remember:
The Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything I need.
This too shall pass.
"Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life." (Charlotte Mason said that). I may not get to homeschool, I may have to send my children to school for too many hours with too many restrictions, but I can still create a lovely atmosphere of learning at home.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Be grateful
Your ballot is coming in the mail
A faithful servant of the Lord is being ordained in the local church in Spain.
God is still at work. And when you doubt, remember the times He worked in the past.
Take your supplements (for me: Iron, Magnesium, Vitamin D and Collagen)
To forget:
Angry thoughts
Unreliable news sources
Other people's opinions
Your children's tantrums, even when they're 3 seconds after when you're supposed to leave for church
Yesterday's failures, including the meal you blatantly deviated from Whole 30 because you were so hungry you almost fainted.
To do:
Wash the windows and the tile walls#spainproblems (I already did this!)Make more lists, both soul and to-do
Fill out and mail your ballot
Write more - Exhale Community can help!
Breathe deeply, in through your mouth, out through your nose. But not while wearing your mask. If you're wearing a mask, just breathe as normally as possible or you might faint again.
Try not to ever faint.
Pray. Pray alone, pray with your family, pray with your friend and your children and your husband. Just pray. Here are 10 things I've been praying every day in September.
Make these chocolate zucchini collagen muffins
To buy:
Nothing. You bought all the things during quarantine and you're done.
These Fair Trade earrings or this Fair Trade necklace (or both! No. Don't buy both. See #1.)
An AirBnB for that [hopeful] day in Lisbon in November
Some second-hand pieces for my fall wardrobe, because #secondhandseptember
A cozy blanket (adorable blue or black choices here)
The latest Inspector Gamache novel by Louise Penny, because I thought she was done at 15 and you need something just for those precious free hours while the kids are finally in school.
This post is part of a blog hop with Exhale—an online community of women pursuing creativity alongside motherhood, led by the writing team behind Coffee + Crumbs. Click here to view the next post in this series "Make A List."