Tips for Starting a Productive Day

photo by Valerie Lynn Jones

Some days are just “blah” no matter what you do. But when I start to have too many of those days, I know that something is off and I need to refocus.

My best days are ones that I’m able to make progress in a little bit of everything: my faith walk, my marriage, my job, household chores, friendships, exercise, hobbies… Although there is the occasional “project day” for when I’m able to focus in on one thing and do it up big.

Either way, I’ve learned how to get a productive day rolling… it starts the moment I wake up:

1. Wake Up Thankful

I noticed that often when I wake up, I automatically feel grumpy, groggy or something like, “Don't talk to, or look at me...I just want to sleep!” If I went to bed super late or I’m not feeling well (and it's not a workday), I give myself some grace and go back to sleep.

Otherwise, I immediately cut off that “UGH” feeling with a quick Thank You Prayer.

Thank You for another day to serve You, Lord…

Thank You for the beautiful sunshine peeking in my window…

Thank You for my husband…

Thank You for all you have in store for me today…

This is almost an instant mood-changer. Then, to not give my sluggishness a chance to come back, I get up.

2. Activate the Senses

As I stumble to the bathroom, I pull back the curtains to let the sun shine in. Nothing wakes me up faster than the sun's happy rays through my window.

I will also get a fresh glass of water and drink as much as I can. This refreshes the body, hydrating and flushing out toxins to help make way for the day’s nourishment.

If I am still a little sleepy, I try to find a quick (5-10 minute) task to do: wash dishes, put away some laundry, check email (but keep it brief), or practice Bible verse memory on Scripture Typer.

I want to get to my morning prayer and Bible study time as soon as possible – but sleepy prayer times usually lack in the quality I desire. So a brief activity will help wake-me up without taking over quiet time with God.

 

3. Avoid Long Morning Internet Sessions

The internet is a time sucker. I don’t know where the minutes go when the internet is in front of me. And nothing makes me feel less productive than staring at a screen (although I use it often for many things I do). The key is to not start my day enthralled by Facebook, Pinterest, and other time suckers…

4. Seek God's Presence Early

This is the most important part of my day. And I would ideally love to do it as soon as I roll out of bed, but I know me. I need to be alert so I can read, listen, understand and respond to what God is saying. The days I actually do all those things – those are the best days.

God knows what my day will be like and exactly what I will need to navigate through it. I need to be in line with Him so I can be effective and fruitful throughout my day. I find that I am not only spiritually energized but also physically energized after spending quality time with God.

Most importantly, God deserves to be first, not an after thought. He is everything to me…I should give my first and best to Him. When I know I’ve done that, I can easily rest in His presence throughout the entire day.

5. Get Moving

Depending on how long my quiet time takes, I may or may not have time for #5 and #6. But when I do, I try to grab the opportunity to get in a workout. It doesn’t matter how long (this morning was only 15 minutes). Anything is better than nothing, and I know it is more likely to get done at the start of my day when my energy is fresh. With a new endorphin release and oxygen soaring through my body, I feel refreshed and ready for the rest of the day!

6. Organize Some Space

This is one of my new favorite things to try to squeeze in before work. (Sometimes it is part of #2 if I need more time to wake up.)

During especially busy seasons, I find it hard to mentally juggle household stuff and work stuff. So I’ve found that if I pick one task to do before leaving for work, I feel like I have not ignored the needs on the home front…and when I come home, I can relax a little more.

Often I’ll do the dishes and clean up the kitchen. Sometimes I make the bed, fold blankets, or put away laundry. If I need to go shopping, I make a list and check for coupons. Anything that will de-clutter my home space and mental space, so I can focus more at work. It may sound weird, but it helps!

7. Get Ready for the Day

Time to shower and pack up for work. At this point I already feel pretty accomplished and I have great momentum for the rest of the day!

I'm certainly not this put together every day, but the above steps have become my go-to list for getting back in the groove. If you need a morning jump start, try it out!

New Favorite Recipe // Cheeseburger Rice Casserole

I know, it's been awhile. But I haven't gone anywhere! Just busy with new schedules, date nights, hanging out with friends and feeding them... So I have to share with you my new favorite comfort food. It’s nothing fancy, just really yummy. And it is one that you can easily modify with healthier ingredients. I forgot to take pictures before eating it all. So just trust me…it’s delicious!

Cheeseburger Rice Casserole

*Health Tip: As it is, this recipe is not unhealthy – but you can make it even more nutritious with some slight changes. I listed some suggestions beside each ingredient. Serve with some green veggies and/or salad, and you have a well-balanced meal!

2 lb ground beef {grass-fed beef}

1 cup uncooked rice {brown rice}

½ onion diced

1 small can (8oz) of tomato sauce {try Muir Glen organic or chop up fresh tomato instead}

1 cup sour cream {real sour cream w/o additives – or go organic}

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese {shred your own to avoid cellulose additives and/or try organic}

½ cup chicken broth {make your own stock from all natural chicken or buy organic}

2 tsp garlic powder

salt, pepper, oregano

1. Get your rice cooking in a pot. Usually the rice to water ratio is 1:2 but my rice tends to need a little more water...
2. Brown the beef in a skillet.
3. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
4. While rice and beef are cooking, mix all other ingredients in a large bowl. Save some of the cheese to sprinkle on top before baking.
5. Add beef & rice and mix.
6. Pour into a 9x13 baking dish.
7. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.
8. Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes. Or freeze and bake later!

Delicious... right? :-)

The Face of Hope

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.
Isaiah 26:3

photo by Valerie Lynn Jones

So many moments of devastation this past week. My heart has throbbed several times for both strangers and loved ones. And as the last waves of sympathy and empathy surged through me, all I could breathe was:

"God, draw us closer to You".

Out there - where there is pain, confusion, heartache - there are also many blessings from God to behold. A helping hand. A kind word. Thoughtful prayers. An angel, with us unaware. Yet we know even all these things, though good, are fleeting.

But not Him. There is nothing like beholding the presence of God, coming face to face with the Eternal. He calls each of us to turn to Him.

When we do, the healing begins. The will shatters and pride falls and we realize we are small and broken. But for the Redeemed Child of God there is no guilt or shame or fear...just a knowing that recognizes that He IS.

As the heart bows, He lifts the chin to meet us face to face. Then there it is - the overwhelming nature of God saturating the soul. Goodness. Love. Peace.

And we think, it doesn't make sense. It shouldn't make sense. The world is falling to pieces - our world crumbling before us. How can there peace?

But it's the peace of God that passes all understanding. He said it right there in His Word: it doesn't make sense.

It doesn't have to. Because He is the God who sees - all things that all of us are going through - He sees. And He cares.

He cares FOR us.

Thousands of years ago He carried the weight of the world's sin and shame as He died on that tree for us. He took our sin and He asks for our cares to be cast on Him, because He cares FOR us.

Instead of us...so we don't have to carry our cares.

It doesn't make sense to give up our cares, our imperfect lives, to a perfect God who seems too big or too far from us. The Truth is He became small, so He could be close, so He could take our burdens - because He loves us so deeply that we really don't understand it until we do give them up.

Then we look in His face and there is relief. Release. Freedom. He embraces us with loving arms and saturates us with His peace that guards our hearts and minds.

And the old hymn sings of what's true:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Everything else dims. It is fleeting as well. In the light of the Eternal our burdens become light. Our hearts begin to rest, then we see it, in His face.

Hope.

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Seeking the face of God in times of trouble - Psalm 27

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Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
(Helen H. Lemmel, 1992)

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s a light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace....

Still Decorating // Family Recipe Cards

It's taken me a while to put this together, but it was worth it. After seeing the idea on Pinterest, I decided I wanted to display some old handwritten family recipes in my dining room. My family searched our through cookbooks for family recipe cards and we found a few that I thought would be perfect in frames.

Honestly, I will probably never make these recipes! But each of them have a story. I also love the handwriting - just a small but personal touch that represents various family members. As a whole, my new recipe wall reminds me of my heritage: a long line of hardworking individuals who devoted themselves to caring for and celebrating their families (often using food!).

A view straight on: Four hand-written recipes, old wooden spoons (from my maternal Grandma) in a mason jar, and an awesome metal floral-cut-out wall hanging that I found in a yard sale.

A glimpse of my paternal Grandma's "Pink Stuff" (cranberry mousse) recipe, which the family usually has every Thanksgiving. Also pictured is my maternal Great Grandma's chicken & rice recipe.

This is a fruit cake recipe that belonged to my Great Grandma, but was written by my Uncle when he was a young boy. The spelling errors are precious. And I especially love the sentiment at the end: "Good Luck!"

The corner of my dining area, now complete! :)

As Close as Breath Itself

photo by Valerie Lynn Jones

As Passion Week comes to an end, I found myself wondering how Jesus' disciples felt in the days after His death.

Many of them fled as He was arrested then questioned and beaten. One of His closest denied that he knew Him - not once, but three times. After His body was laid in the tomb, the disciples hid together in fear. They did not yet understand what was taking place.

Did they realize they were waiting for Him to rise again? Did they wait with eagerness and hope, or worry and despair? Were they confessing to one another everything they should have done differently? Were they asking each other why?

I wonder if they felt abandoned. Or if they simply felt broken and empty. After spending so much precious time in His presence, listening to His teaching, being filled by His love, and amazed by His powerful works - He was gone. Violently and tragically ripped from their presence. Did they seek God for comfort?

I wondered all this as I pondered my own struggles during Passion Week. The needling temptations, the latent discontent, my feeble attempts to keep leaven out of my spirit and my stomach. And at the end of Lent, in the middle of Passover, after experiencing such a precious closeness...why this uncertain struggle? Is this how the disciples felt?

Then I read how He rises from the dead and He appears to those He loves, saying:

“Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit."
John 20:21-22

It was as if the Creation was taking place all over again - and maybe it was.

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Genesis 2:7

Jesus fulfilled the most perfect and complete act of drawing us close to Him through His sacrificial death and triumphant resurrection. And then He returned to His disciples and He breathed on them. He pulled them up out of despair and grief, out of the haze of confusion, and the ashes of the mourning. And He breathed His breath of life on them.

Receive the Holy Spirit, He said.

The first time since Creation that mankind was so intimately close to God that human breath and God's breath were one. Man's spirit and God's Spirit entwined.

It would have been enough for Jesus to die as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins, so that we could stand righteous before God.

But He drew closer.

It would have been enough for Him to die, then rise from the dead on the third day - conquering Satan and the grave - so we could live in victory over spiritual death.

But He drew closer.

He breathes on us and He pours out His Spirit to dwell within us.

I am constantly amazed at how much God desires to be with us.

I am not sure how close to God the disciples felt during those three days without Jesus. But He made it clear that the events of that week were not about what we can do to be close to God. It was about what He did to be close to us - as close as breath itself.

Even Peter, the one who denied knowing Him, received the breath of new life as Jesus lovingly reinstituted Peter's purpose and the Holy Spirit filled Him.

And so as I wonder and ponder my closeness to Him and He reminds me: My Spirit is in you.

This week is not about what I have done or not done, it is about what He has already done and where He now dwells. I have a purpose and everything I need already within me to do His good work and be close to Him.

So breathe. Breathe deeply. Let Me be close to you and rejoice in what I have done! 

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I went running this morning, for the first time in 40 days. I made my 3.1 miles without stopping and without falling over in pain, praise God! And my time was comparable to what normally run when training: 10min/mile. I certainly did not lose out on much.

But it was a little harder since it had been so long since my lungs filled so deeply with air and my blood became saturated with oxygen. Just feeling fullness of life surging through my veins again...just learning how to breathe again.

Thank you, Lord, for your blood and your breath that permeates every part of who I am - for fullness of life. He is risen indeed!