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| Orange juice, banana, spinach, strawberries, raspberries, ice |
Okay I confess, when I bought my Vitamix from Costco a few months back I thought I would enjoy having it, but not really use it as much as I hoped I would. Actually felt a little guilty for buying it. I was so WRONG!!!! I am absolutely amazed at how much we use this thing and how much a part of my life it has become and changed me. They weren't joking when they said you could use it for more than just smoothies, I make hummus, non-dairy dessert, salsa, soup and just a couple days ago I made almond milk. (I'm gonna do a separate post about this) I can honestly say we use this thing once a day and a lot of times twice. It was one of the best purchases I have very been blessed to make. But to go a little deeper this has brought on more than just yummy morning smoothies for my family.
I had this vision in my head of what kind of wife/mom I was going to be. No big surprise that I am not that woman. I have been thinking a lot over the years about my short comings, how I have failed and fallen short and focused on all the things I am doing wrong. I pray and ask God to give me wisdom, strength, patience, you know all those things that you would think would make you the person you want to be. Where I have failed (yes I am placing blame on myself) is in my execution. God made me the exact way that I am, I can't and never will be perfect while on this earth, but that is not going to stop me from trying to be the best version of myself and making lasting heart/behavior changes is what I am working to make that happen. It's funny to say, but it started with this blender.
My youngest was getting constipated on a regular basis and I knew it was because I was not feeding him a well balanced diet. I couldn't get enough fiber into him. This blender was a way to help with that and it has, oh man it has!!! After I got a handle on this I thought okay, that's one step in the right direction, what else can I do, "Baby steps" right?!?! So I started blending up veggies and adding them to food, I chose to tell my boys they were in their food instead of hiding it because I felt like it was too close to a lie. After getting this integrated into our daily life I thought to myself, "okay that's two things I have improved on what's another way I can make a positive change?" I was getting motived by my small successes.
This has spiraled into so many things outside of eating. I don't want to bore you with all the details of everything I have been changing, but it has been things from selling/donating toys, homeschool activities, scheduling our days, and just today a new plan for TV. My first thought was to cut it off, no Netflix, no movies during the week and so forth. But after some thought and discussion with my husband and best friend I realized the TV issue was much more of a matter of the heart for me. There are so many avenues for tv these days that cutting off Netflix was not changing my laziness to turn it on when I didn't want to put in any effort. So at breakfast this morning I had a discussion with my 7yo. I told him the struggle I was having with tv and how I thought it was affecting our family. I told him that I wanted to change and be a better example of self-control for him and his brother and asked if he would help me out. We talked through a new plan for when it was okay and not okay to have digital time. He agreed and so we set out on our day. This being our first day I am working through how to keep a 2yo busy while teaching, but I did find a way to keep him busy for an hour. Which was nice.
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| He played in his seat for and hour! |
My goal is to get to the point where I don't even think about turning the tv on for the boys, and just like when I stopped doing Facebook updates and spending my time reading wall after wall after wall post of my friends, I know it's going to take a while to work it out of my system. I'm just tired of saying "I want to be like..." and not doing anything about it.
Here is a list of things I have changed 1 at a time over the last few months. My encouragement to you is to not look at all the things you want to change. Make a list and work on one at a time, find someone who you trust and is on the same page as you, or can at least encourage you to stay on track, even if they don't have the same convictions as you! (Love you B!)
In progress changes
-Read my bible every night before bed for 30 minutes
-Spinach/healthy breakfast for my family every morning
-Selling toys and stuff that are unused and saving the $
-No TV until school is done then only one/two episodes
-Pulling cash out on my grocery budget so I stick to it
-Little to no time on Facebook only work related stuff
Wanting to change/next on the list
-Teaching my boys/myself spanish on a more regular basis
-Meal plan for the week instead of day by day
-Read more books
-Clean the bathrooms more than once a month!
-Continual working on healthier meals and snacks for the boys and myself
-Make sure my husband has a lunch for work when there are no leftovers
So there you have it. The spiral that was my Vitamix purchase. Now I don't want to you think I have it all together or I know how it's done. What I do know is that I am always going to be trying to be a better mom/wife/friend etc. I know that I have a God that loves me beyond what I can understand and He has given me this life for a purpose. I don't want to waist it and the most important thing you should know about me is that I don't do any of this stuff for myself, my family, my friends or even the world to see. I do this for God my father. "Whatever you do, work at it wholeheartedly as though you were doing it for the Lord and not merely for people." ISV Colossians 3:23. I will fail, I will make more mistakes, I will watch tv and eat a donut and give my boys candy. That doesn't make me a bad mom, but what I don't want to do is keep looking for approval in the wrong place. That will cause me to stumble and fall more than anything else. So I have change my prayers from asking God to equip me with tools to be a better mom, to giving me the strength to work only for Him!
