When There's Too Much To Do

Overwhelmed upon waking. That's how I enter my mornings on occasion. (Can you relate?)

Today was no exception. Immediately my mind is filled with my long list of to-do's. Yesterday was an "off" day as I spent most of my day at the hospital awaiting the arrival of our newest family member (another cousin!). It ended up being a bit stressful but in the end mom and baby are doing great, praise The Lord!!

So, as I'm trying to get dressed for the day, our 6 year old bursts in the room telling me his brother cut his foot and is bleeding. 

*sigh* 

Gee. Not exactly the morning I had hoped for.  There's never a dull moment, that's for sure.

Alas, up the stairs I go.

I tend to the hurting child and kiss the booboo.   We see Daddy off to work then it's game on.  Toys are strewn across the house so orders go out to clean, followed by whining voices and complaints, of which I pay no attention and proceed to tell them to trod on. 

Breakfast ensues (along with more whining and some screaming...gotta love 2 year olds) then I send the kiddos off to play a bit. 

Meanwhile, I'm staring at the sink full of dishes and cluttered counters. (Wait...is that another toy? Ugh!)  All the while the overflowing baskets of laundry are calling my name.  

*heavy sigh*

And I've not even met with Mr. Coffee yet. 

*Sound of hungry cry*

Ahh, yes, right on cue baby girl cries out to be nursed. 

So off I go to the recliner with an armload of my routine morning essentials:  my Bible, oversized coffee cup full to the brim, baby girl and the remote. Yes, I let our 2 year old watch Mickey so I can try to squeeze in a few uninterrupted minutes of Bible study and coffee drinking whilst nursing our 4 month old. There's no harm in that. ;-) 

Keep in mind the dishes and laundry are still in the forefront of my mind, making me antsy. But I know I NEED to dive into God's Word...or at the very least take a quick splash into it. 

All is well the first 5 minutes. Then the fights break out. Instead of my usual response though, this time I call them in and put to use our new Child Training Bible. (More about this in another post) 

Situation is handled and things calm down a bit. 

Hmm, maybe they really are listening. 

Back to the seemingly never-ending to-do list.  I just remembered I still have to finish painting our oldest son's room today so we can put it back together. 

Let's add to this already busy list; school work, phone calls to be made, bills to be mailed, and the general day-to-day stuff (making meals, diaper changes, sweeping, mopping, and other mundane tasks) and it's no wonder I wake up overwhelmed.

Ever have days like these? 

Maybe not exactly like these. Maybe you work outside the home and have to deal with getting kids ready for school or daycare, breakfast, overdue projects, co-workers, errands, after-school activities and then all the household chores once you're home. 

I won't hesitate to admit the FIRST thing I should do before ever getting out of bed is to pray! Obviously, I failed at that this morning. I let the worries of the days surmounting tasks get in the way of a few quiet moments with Jesus. 

"It is good to praise you, Lord, to sing praises to God Most High. It is good to tell of your love in the morning and of your loyalty at night. Lord, you have made me happy by what you have done; I will sing for joy about what your hands have done. Lord, you have done such great things! How deep are your thoughts!"(Psalms 92:1, 2, 4, 5 NCV)

Honestly, how long would it take to say a simple prayer of thanks first thing in the morning before rising from bed? Or going to bed in the evening? Not long. 

"It is good to tell of your love in the morning and of your loyalty at night."(Psalms 92:2 NCV)

Then why is it so hard? Because we are sinful, stubborn and busy creatures. 

If we would just commit to starting and ending our day in communicating with God, our "too much to do" days wouldn't seem quite so bad. 

If your day has you feeling overwhelmed, cry out to Jesus! 

"O God, listen to my cry! Hear my prayer! From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety, for you are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me. Let me live forever in your sanctuary, safe beneath the shelter of your wings!"(Psalms 61:1-4 NLT)

We can apply some simple, practical applications on those super busy days to keep us from becoming overwhelmed and in turn, over-stressed.

1) Pray! 

"Never stop praying."(1 Thessalonians 5:17 NLT)

This means as you go throughout your day, pray. When you pass by something that belongs to your husband or child, pray for them. Pray for our country (2 Chronicles 7:14). Pray for your Pastor and your church family.  Go to God with thanksgiving for His many blessings on your life. Pray pray, pray! 

I promise you that prayer can change your outlook on your whole day!

2) Make A List

Choose the top 5 most important things that MUST be accomplished for that day. We must put our priorities in order. Once the major things are marked off, you can move on to the minor things. Remember, everything is important:  some things are just more pressing than others some days. 

3) Do What You Can...Tomorrow Is Another Day

Once you've accomplished your priority tasks, work on the others as diligently as you can. But don't be discouraged if it doesn't all get completed. If there's some laundry left over or you didn't get to dust, put it at the top of tomorrow's list. Focus on the day at hand and do what you can, working unto The Lord.

"So don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will have its own worries. Each day has enough trouble of its own. "(Matthew 6:34 NCV)

"In all the work you are doing, work the best you can. Work as if you were doing it for the Lord, not for people." (Colossians 3:23 NCV)

Enjoy family time in the evenings.  

Laugh.  

Play.  

Love on your husband.  

Don't fret about what you have to do tomorrow. Once the day's work is complete, relish in the time God has given you with the family He has blessed you with.  

May God Richly Bless You!

Kayla

Can We Say...Distractions?

Ok, so...I have allowed myself to be VERY distracted since my last blog post...in MARCH. :/ Granted, I had a very valid reason:  we delivered our beautiful baby girl on June 1st of this year!!! Needless to say with her birth and recovery, learning to adapt to life with six children and vacationing this summer, my blogging time (and much more importantly) my alone time with God have been to a minimum. I say that last part with a heavy heart. Life gets soooo busy, friends. And boy has God been pricking at my heart lately. He's calling me and beckoning me to come back to our quiet times together.

Finding time for this is definitely a challenge now. Our homeschool year is well underway and teaching 4 children is proving to be quite the balancing act. Add to that keeping our two year old occupied during class and some days end up like a circus!!  Also, our sweet Adalynn just turned 4 months old yesterday so I'm getting a *few* more minutes in the day to get things accomplished. She's more willing to sit in her swing or high chair and chill a bit so mommy can get some work done. ;)

Well, most days.

I'm looking forward to resuming quiet times with my Lord and Savior. I need Him so desperately each and every day. I'm ashamed that I've let myself be so distracted by every day life that I can't even take a few minutes to study in His Word. His Word is like food for our souls and we can't nibble here and there a few days a week and be satisfied. No, we must dive into His Word deeply and fill our spirits with His life-giving "food".

Also I'm looking forward to sharing my thoughts and insights gained from Bible study, but mostly what God is speaking through His Word. I still pray that God would use me and this blog to help strengthen and encourage other fellow sisters in Christ.

We all deal with distractions. The fast paced society we live in now is full of them.

Why won't you join me in regaining time alone with God (or deepening your walk with Him) and push aside those things that so easily distract us.

God has rich blessings in store for us and He wants to lavish us with His grace.


May God Richly Bless You!

Kayla

Time Change...Ugh!

 

Ever have mornings like this? Yeah, I thought so. And this is how I'm feeling this morning.  With the time change, our youngest not sleeping ALL night last night and the non existent comfortable sleeping position for being nearly 7 months pregnant, I am severely dragging this morning. Coffee is my friend this morning...and we may visit twice again today. 

In the past, I used to have a really hard time getting anything accomplished on days like this. As in, I would pretty much lay or sit around most of the day and do "just enough" to get by. This is ok to do...if one is sick. But even though the sleep we desperately needed wasn't achieved, we still have to push through and do our work. We need to remember:

"In all the work you are doing, work the best you can. Work as if you were doing it for the Lord, not for people." Colossians 3:23

And having a crummy attitude toward the days work, or worse, toward the people you work with or are around all day, isn't acceptable either.

"and to your service for God, add kindness for your brothers and sisters in Christ; and to this kindness, add love." 2 Peter 1:7

Watch your words...watch how you speak to others. Do your best to keep your attitudes and actions in check. Pray continually for God to give you patience and endurance to make it through the days when you simply don't think you can stay awake past lunch time. He will sustain you. :-)

"Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." Psalm 55:22 KJV

Tomorrow we will begin a new Bible study on Taming The Tongue. It's a good one...and one that just may have you squirming around in your seat a bit as you read it. But trust me, it's worth reading and applying to your life. Hope to see you tomorrow!

 Keep in mind when I blog these posts, I'm talking to myself as well as you...so there's no finger pointing. These are things I personally deal with on a daily basis so writing helps keep me accountable for my actions. And I hope that you can gather courage and inspiration from these posts.

Whew! What A Day!

 

This is exactly (well, almost exactly) how my day was today. Whew! What a busy busy Saturday! And I only left for a short time to drop my hubby off to take care of some business. The rest of my busyness occurred right here at home...and I swear I feel like she looks right now. :-P

In a positive light, LOTS of unfinished things were accomplished today, the house is clean and tidy and we have enjoyed some beautiful weather with temps in the mid 60's today!! I do believe Spring has sprung (or at least I'm clinging to that). Spring is my absolute favorite season!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend and spending fun quality time with their families as I am. :-)  

May God Richly Bless You!

Kayla

A Mom's Work Is Never Done

I love coming across these funnies. Some of them are indeed quite comical and true to life. This is one of those that struck me as both funny AND true to life. Yes, it's in a lighthearted sarcastic kind of way, but nevertheless has a lot of truth to it.

And for the record, I am no fuddy-duddy. I thoroughly enjoy laughing and cutting up and having a lighthearted spirit. But as I was pondering what to write about today, this "funny" kept coming to mind. Admittedly, I tend to over think things and rationalize and analyze stuff to death (just ask my hubby...bless his heart), but it's one of those quirky things that keeps my mind active. So I decided to write about how a mom's work is never done and how sometimes we have the wrong perception. Hang on to your seats, ladies, this *could* get a little bumpy.  Here we go...

Waffles!

Mmmmmm, homemade waffles for breakfast?? I think so!! There's nothing like whipping up a batch and enjoying them with your favorite toppings and a steaming hot cup of coffee, is there? This is what we enjoyed this morning, and usually at least once a week. My kids LOVE them and they really are super yummy, fluffy and flavorful.

You can even add chocolate chips, fruit bits or whatever strikes your fancy. Our kids love it when I add chocolate chips to theirs. It's their super-special breakfast they really look forward to.

Here is what you will need:

2 cups self rising flour 

1/3 cup oil (I use canola)

1 3/4 cup buttermilk (to make buttermilk add about a teaspoon of distilled white vinegar to your regular milk, stir 
and let sit for about 5 minutes. Voila!)

2 eggs

2 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

A Personal Bible Study ~ Joy In Times of Trouble ~ Part Three

Welcome back to the final part of Joy In Times of Trouble. The last two days we have looked into many verses to help us during difficult and trying times of our lives. Yesterday we looked into some Practical Applications and we will continue that today and end with how we can use what we learn during the trials of life and how we can be a blessing to others.

(If you missed the first two parts or are just visiting our blog for the first time, you can find them here and here.)

Part Three

We ended yesterday touching on the subject of patience.  Ahhh, yes, patience. A word every mother would love to have more of, but is afraid to ask for, in fear of the ensuing trials that seem to come along with it. Mmmmhmm, you know what I'm talking about. The light-hearted joke of praying for patience and to be cautious of it?? More than likely you have heard this at some point in time in your life. Let's take buying a new house for example. 

A Personal Bible Study ~ Joy In Times of Trouble ~ Part Two

Welcome back!

Yesterday we discussed James 1:2-3 and how we are to have joy in times of trouble. (If you happened to have missed it, you can read it here). Today we will be looking into some Practical Applications for every day life.

Part Two

As a homeschooling mom, some days can be a blessed breeze. The kids do all their work, don't put up much fuss in the process and are actually eager to learn! To top it off even the younger ones (who are yet doing "schoolwork") actually play quietly and things go remarkably smooth! Ahhh, what a great blessing for a homeschooling mother.  BUT...

A Personal Bible Study ~ Joy In Times of Trouble ~ Part One

James 1:2-3

This Bible study started out as a nap-time Bible study. Studying these two simple verses quickly became a study that has lasted a week now. The way that God has spoken to me through this is astonishing and I simply couldn't wait to share it!! Everything I am writing was taken from my notes during the study. After the initial study, I felt compelled to delve deeper and began writing out Practical Applications that went along with the Scripture that applies to our everyday life. God definitely spoke during this time, as on my own, I never would have been able to write what was written or even begin to find all the corresponding Scriptures. Thanksgiving and Praise all goes to Him!!  Be prepared to read a LOT of Scripture, because, what better way to grow and learn and handle life's many ups and downs than through God's spoken Word!

So, without further ado, let's continue onto Part One of a three part series I will be posting over the next few days. My prayer is that you will find this a blessing and encouragement.

*A special note: I do a lot of my studying from the NCV (New Century Version) Bible. It's a simple version to understand and comprehend. There are many many many versions of the Bible available today, so by all means, feel free to read from the version you prefer. :)  As for this study and any future studies or Scriptures posted, it will be from the NCV.

Let The Fun Begin!

Hi, I'm Kayla, and welcome to Where My Cup Overflows!  God has poured so many of His blessings into my life...so many more than I ever even dreamed.  He has given me my amazing husband, Zack, who is my best friend and the biggest blessing in my life. <3 He is unbelievably hardworking, an absolutely fabulous father to our children and such a wonderful and sacrificial husband. God has allowed many experiences in our lives, both good and bad, and has richly blessed us with a large and beautiful family!  I simply couldn't imagine life any other way!

Right off the bat I have to admit though...this is a completely new thing to me...blogging that is. And yet here I am about to embark on a journey into the world of blogging. It's a slightly scary feeling, but I am certain it will be lots of fun and allow me to reminisce years down the road, of the joyful time spent being a wife and mother.  Not only that but I am excited to share inspiration and hope through the Word of God and to share experiences of homeschooling, recipes and more!

Although I may not be a "seasoned" wife and mother, having been married a little over ten years now to my highschool sweetheart, having given birth to 6 beautiful children (one of whom was called home to be with the Lord...that story another day) and about to give birth yet again this June, I feel that I do have some experience to share. ;-) There are many other ladies out there with far more experience than I of course, and I commend them and love learning from them. They are such an inspiration and encouragement!