Say that title three times fast and welcome to Spring! If your life feels like one giant tongue twister riding a roller coaster, you’re in the right place. The last few months have been filled with so many things I hardly know which way is up. My baby is now a full fledged toddler, we are in the second half of the school year and wouldn’t you know it- the mortgage company still wanted me to remember to pay them this month! (if the following looks like I should have posted in the middle of January… this is when I first began writing this post! More on that later…)
It’s a new year and, for many, that means new resolutions. This is the time when you see the most people telling themselves and others “This is it! I’m doing it! THIS is going to be the year I accomplish _________!” Fill in the blank with any number of things. You probably had something pop into your head, even if you had not previously thought on the matter. We all are looking for that one thing that will change us for the better. Unfortunately, that doesn’t usually go as planned for many. By February or March, we are fizzled out. Spring break is on everyone’s mind. We are all tired of the cold snaps coming back, Summer vacation is on the brain and we wonder if Uncle Randy will be at the family reunion in May.
It doesn’t happen overnight, but at some point we wake up one day and realize we are far, far away from any semblance of where we were trying to be on January 1. What is a person to do? Every year we hear the same mantras, similar goals and every year we fall into the same cycle. Why is that? Could it be that there is not much of a rhyme or reason to the goal? Many goals are just that- a goal. It’s great to have goals. Why do I want that goal to be attained? What is the reason motivating me to keep going when it gets hard? Every goal worth having is going to be difficult to achieve. When there is a choice to make between working towards the goal or doing something more desirable in that moment, when the scale won’t budge, when writers’ block hits and the car breaks down for the umpteenth time- what is the “why”?
There needs to be a motivator (no- not the always missing/ broken piece in Star Wars!) to keep us going. We have to begin with a rhyme and reason to our goals. Otherwise, we will never reach those goals that truly matter. Every year I see ads stating that “You will wish you had started today” to pull me in to whatever marketing ploy is being thrown at me. I see them all year long, and they are on to something. This time next year, I WILL wish I had done something today. OR I could be thankful I did do something today. The question is what will that thing have been that I did or did not do?
I can tell you right off I did not step into a gym, nor did I write any affirmations or plan a big trip. What I did do was work on a new routine I started a few weeks (months… coming back to finish writing this post… I began this months..) ago. My family is constantly growing and changing, and I am forever trying to keep up and make sure that we are doing things that help our family thrive. Most recently I have found myself in the world of sourdough. So one thing I did today was continue in a routine of bread making. I got up this morning and made sure my sourdough starter was prepped for the day and for tomorrow. For me that was something small that took 5 minutes. But it will affect the rest of our week and a few of our meals.
I have a rather larger motivator to make our own bread. My body does not process store bought bread very well, but I can make it so my body tolerates it better. I can take care of my family a whole lot better when I take care of myself. Making my own bread is cheaper than buying the same quality from the store or even from another person. I’m not sure about you, but we are counting all the pennies we can over here! I have a rhyme and reason- my motivator- for this particular change to our family.
(Quick note here to say that was all of the originally written part of this post. After that paragraph, One of the kids became sick… and that propelled us into a season of the whole family jumping on a seemingly endless cycle of illness for some time after that.. I lovingly call that season the time we had the plague! I haven’t been that sick since I was a teen.)
Now that we have all been fully recovered for some time, I have since attacked the house and it’s contents with some spring cleaning in an attempt to regain that rhythm of routines we had before. With warmer weather in sight (no more cold snaps…please..?), I’m beginning to feel more motivation to buckle down and get things done. Sourdough has become a habit at this point. I don’t really need to think about it anymore like when I first stepped into the bread making world a few months ago. Now, I’m moving on to other things in order to benefit my family and help others around me. My routines and rhythms have rhymes and reasons. There are no vague goals, only clear end points and a “why” to help me get there. The only vague thing is HOW I’m getting there. Because, last I checked, God doesn’t share His itinerary with me. He doesn’t have to. I just have to be ready to act when He shares what He wants me to do. Lately, I’m finding that I’m on the only rollercoaster I will ever enjoy. Life is full of adventure with it’s twists and turns. Life is never boring. We just have to find our “why” behind our goals, then trust that God will help us get there on time and in one piece.
“These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16: 33)
