Wondering what Mommy Homework is??? Each week you will have an “assignment” here to share in our comments here on this site. You will love this-both sharing AND enjoying answers by others. Some of them, I compile into an ebook (contributors can resell as a product of their own–be sure to submit your email and full name when you register so I can credit you appropriately!).
The result is AWESOME!
We get to know each other…we are encouraged in our journey…and we glean super ideas from other great moms!
Ready for this week’s MH? This is going to be a good one!
This week I will be joining a private homeschool group in Tuscaloosa for a MOM-DAY! As I was praying about the topic for the weekend, God moved on my heart to teach along the theme of RE-CHARGE! I am SO excited about this theme.
Just get out your cell-phone for a moment. How is your battery? Is it operating on 100% right now? Or 75%? Or 50%? OR…is it in the red? OR…is it DEAD? 🙂 We are SO like our cell-phones. Funny how much so! Can you see it?
Well, do you know how to change the charge on your cell-phone? Right! YOU PLUG IT IN! RE-CHARGE! Well, do you know how to change YOU? YOURSELF? YOUR LIFE? Right! Plug in! Re-charge! I KNOW that this one is hard. It is so easy to pour into everyone else BUT yourself. So many of us run on empty. We run in the red. There are “blinking lights” warning us that we will run out and die, but so often we don’t plug in because we try to be super-mom. We think that we are a failure if we need to re-charge. Oh! Sweet friends, we NEED to plug in! We NEED to re-charge! But…HOW?
That is our Mommy Homework this week!
Let’s share some practical ideas for plugging in–for re-charging. How do you do it? How do you fit it in? Share your ideas and tips. I can’t wait!
I am looking forward to all of these! It will be super! Have fun! 
DIG IN!
Love ya!
Cindy
PS! Please remember to use your real name if you want credit for your Mommy Homework Credit. 
PPS! You CAN just share and not participate in Mommy Homework, BUT I would LOVE for you to get some goodies along the way!
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Deadline–Friday at midnight CST.
One word, SLEEP. For me the thing that always leads to all failure is lack of sleep. Luck for me I have a darling husband that understands my weakness and will occassionally take the kids in the morning and let me sleep, or let me take a nap when the baby does. Usually after a couple naps I am back to being the woman he wants to be married to 🙂
Learning new things. Online conferences (homeschool & otherwise). Getting together with other moms once a month. I am going to our state homeschool conference in June with 7 other moms for the weekend 🙂 Eat dinner alone while watching a favorite show. Hang out in the hot tub with hubby 🙂 Spend time in God’s Word 🙂 Blare praise and worship music while working in the house. Read books. Blog. Sleep!
Sleep is my first one as well. Then I make a really good “to-do” list. My mind gets cluttered and then I get overwhelmed. I forget things and then it all gets worse. I will write down even the smallest tasks that need to be done. I get to check off more that way! Once my mind is free from all the little things I need to remember, it doesn’t seem as bad. Then I work on crossing off some of the little tasks. Seeing things get done is very motivating.
I definitely agree with Rachel about online conferences. I have been so blessed by the many speakers who have come into my home and spoken to my heart. I also love blasting praise music or positive, upbeat music and singing/ dancing along. Getting outside in the sun to go for a walk or putter in the garden almost always recharges me. I have a small metal rocking bench in one corner of my yard, surrounded by flowers, that I can escape to for 5 minute breaks which has been an absolute blessing. (Thanks honey, for figuring out to keep the wind from knocking it over!) I am so glad it is Spring and mostly nicer for going outside!
Another thing that is a new recharge in the works is learning how to just sit and be still. An older woman mentor has shared some of the things God has shown her and I am SLOWLY learning to implement them. See, I am the type that has a hard time just sitting. If I watch a movie I also am folding clothes, cutting something, snacking, ironing – anything to keep my hands busy. If I soak in the tub I am also reading or listening to a teaching. If I try to just sit, my mind goes to my to do lists, the bad news I’ve read, places my homeschool is lacking, solving the world’s problems, etc. Plus, I have a little sizzler in residence. I hadn’t realized how much this is keeping me from truly resting and recharging until she brought up that God had told her to share with me during her prayer time. Basically, I am first training myself to sit with nothing in my hands with the intention of being quiet. When thoughts invade, I repeat Bible verses about being quiet, stillness, rest in order to direct my mind to higher thoughts and eventually quiet. I’m also praying for God to help me accept His rest for me. She promises that, eventually, the time between verses will lengthen until I’m able to just sit and rest for 30 minutes at a time. She also tells me that God speaks amazing things when you learn to quiet your mind before Him for such lengths of time. Like I said, this one is in progress, but I do believe it will increasingly be a time of recharging. You’re welcome to try along with me!
I’ve thought about this a lot lately, and for me, i really really NEED a daily creative time. I’m an avid scrapbooker and I find on the days i don’t find time to scrap, i am just GRUMPY. With 8 month old twins and 5 others i’m homeschooling, those days come much more frequently than i’d like but I at least make an effort.
One thing I do, besides making sure I have QUIET TIME to read my Bible – pray – and write, is just read a good book or a favorite magazine. For books, I prefer fiction or biographies – because it sorta gets my brain moving in a new direction and I LOVE reading a good book, so it’s refreshing for me. I can read during naptime or while the girls are playing on the swings or riding their bike in the driveway. I really love just getting outside myself for a few hours or a few moments – and thinking about something different.
Oh yes, SLEEP is good, too. That’s always a biggie for me. A 20 minute power nap is like a super quick recharge. And it helps me focus. I know that I’m more prone to bad attitude when I am lacking sleep.
I would LOVE to get away alone, like in a hotel in the mountains. Where I could hike some trails enjoying God’s creation. I mean alone without anyone including husband. Just the Lord and me, my bible, praise and worship, some good inspired reading, and fun reading too. And Chinese food too! I’m the only one that likes it so I never get to have any. That is what I’d like to do. But I don’t live in that reality.
So I listen to Joyce Meyer on my iPod, read books in the bathroom and take some hot bubble baths.
~Marni
Here are some of these I like to do to recharge:
I like to grab a book and a cup of hot tea or iced tea.
I like to get a snack and lounge on the couch watching a Hallmark Movie.
Do a craft or work on a project around the house.
Sit on the swing in my backyard and watch the birds.
Take a walk and look at the spring gardens in the neighborhood.
Bake something yummy for my family (husband, 3teens, and 1 young adult) and then call them to the table to talk.
Set up a tablescape and make a nice dinner.
Spending some real time in God’s Word is a great one for me -one thing that really helps with this is being a study group leader/facilitator. I actually have to dig in deep and think through the issues and implications of what God is saying in order to direct and develop the conversation during the study. This is a real blessing and often something the Lord uses to meet my own needs. Would be nice if I could have the desire/motivation to do this kind of recharging when I’m not leading!
I have a few one is a real surprise to me. Its new I only started it this year. Okay enough suspense :D.
I read my Bible. That is a given, it usually helps but there are times when I am soooo drained that it takes alot of reading to start to charge.
Next would be sleep. We all need our rest. I have noticed now that with my new charger I don’t need as much sleep because what I do sleep is alot deeper and more restful.
Now the surprise……………are you ready for this………………………………………………..
exercise! My body asks for it…..It says “Hey! When are you going to move me. I’m stressin here!?” After I do it I’m flooded with such a calm happy feeling. Well once I can breath again. 😀
Now I’m going to read the other responses.
Cindy, Thank you so much for all of your encouragement about exercise. I so helped to motivate me. I feel so much better when I’m healthy enough to do it. I also think its helping my health troubles. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
When I need to recharge my first step is often just getting some extra sleep. Of course I also have to check that I’ve been spending the time I need to with God. Sometimes I just need to get alone with Him for awhile and let Him refresh me.
Another thing that helps is to listen to an encouraging podcast. Cindy’s got some great ones like “Say Good-bye to Supermom!” and “Run to Jesus.”
Sometimes I just need to do something I enjoy. That could be singing or listening to music or reading a good book.
At times I just need to chat with a friend to get perspective and recharge. It’s great to have a friend or 2 who are real prayer warriors that I can call on in times like this. And it’s always nice to call my own Mom and catch up with her.
And on days when it’s hard to really do any of these things because I have 5 kids who need Mommy, I have the freedom to set the schoolwork aside for awhile and have fun with the kids – we can play legos, watch a movie, play a game, read a great book, etc.
A great way for me to recharge is to get outside. I enjoy the opportunity to go for a walk (especially by myself), and it gives everyone a break when I take the kids to the playground on a gorgeous day. Now that they’re all past the toddler stage this actually IS a break, especially when homeschool friends are there too. Yay!
Jenn Pearson
When my mind is in a fog and I feel so fatigued, I often call my mom or another close friend to pray with me over the phone. It is strange how often the fog lifts immediately. It is as if something spiritual was happening that I could not see, something from the enemy.
Silence rejuvenates me. If my husband takes the kids to a park, and I am at home alone in complete silence, I feel like I’m on vacation. I don’t allow myself to do chores, because the whole purpose is to be rejuvenated. So I pour myself a hot bath. I listen to a fun audio that draws me closer to God. Or I sit in my living room and do nothing. I gently connect to God, and I feel His peace. Nothing else. By the time my husband returns, I feel so refreshed that I’m a better wife.
I have to say that resting is hard for me to do. I am a highly productive person, and I get antsy if I do nothing. I actually get a high from getting things accomplished. So other times if my husband takes the kids for awhile, I might organize a bin, or go over the next year’s homeschooling goals, and plan what I will do month by month. Because of the silence and complete focus, I am able to get so much accomplished that I feel incredible, and I’m revved up about homeschooling again.
This is a hard subject for me, because I’ve needed recharged for some time (several years) but being with me special needs child 24/7 365 days a year that is awfully hard. We believe in doing things as a family but when you have NO one to help out even for 15-30 minutes it is hard to keep going.
This is what I would love to do and a few things I do to keep going even now.
* Quiet time just for me and my husband
* A walk just with my husband
* Time a lone with God and His Word
* Read a good book just for myself
* Listening to Cindy and her different sessions
* Listen to some relaxing music without having to listen to the kids scream and holler
* Do cake decorating – this was something I loved doing but can’t anymore
* Being together as a whole family
* Being together with Christian friends
I love my kids very much but sometimes I feel that I keep giving and giving and don’t have anything to recharge my battery. I have been asked how I haven’t had a nervous break down and my only answer to that is God.
Orilla Crider
In my life several years ago I learned a lesson I have and never will forget. I was at times teaching two classes on Sunday, busy with church actives and raising our family. I got to the point that I was stressed out and didn’t even realize it. Then we change churches to several miles away and there I didn’t have anything to do for a while. That was when I realized that if I had not moved when we did I would have been in serious trouble.
From that move I learned never to take on more than what I know my body could handle. I have learned to say no. I do not need to do everything I am asked to do.
In the last few years I have found that if I am in God’s Word and spend time in prayer it does more than anything else. But if there are those times and they do come when everything seems to pile up at once no matter what I do. If I get behind I just have to make time for the important things, God first. Than I have to get to bed early until I get caught up on sleep, sometimes I even have to get a nap in the middle of the day, sometimes 15 minutes or at times I have even slept for an hour and didn’t even feel guilty. One other thing that has really has helped me is to drink a lot of water every day. It is hard for me to drink water so I make myself drink, otherwise I can feel my body just not working for me.
So now when I need to recharge I get close to my Savior and Lord, add in lots of rest and drink, drink, drink water.
Now my cell phone runs down faster than I do most of the time.
I love what everyone else has said.
Do something! I think too much sometimes. I worry and ponder and figure, etc. until I have myself in a dither. I wonder if I need re-charging or just getting knocked out of my mental rut. 🙂 So, when I feel that internal pressure building, I pick a project and tear into it, or go to the gym, or gather up the kids and go for a walk or do something different than “normal”.
Live through it, not get away from it. Jesus Christ and his Holy Spirit are my only true sources of renewal. If I start focusing on me and how I feel and what I want, I just feel worse and worse. I have two little girls. My older daughter was soooo jealous of our younger daughter when they were tiny. I couldn’t leave them alone for more than 30 seconds. You think I’m exaggerating, but I’m not. I would start them playing outside, turn around and start laundry, and the younger daughter would be crying. She got hurt a lot. It was such a difficult time because it left me with no minutes of “me” time. One day when I was standing in my living room crying, I spoke aloud to the Lord and just asked for help. I would love to say that He sent someone to give me some alone time. That’s not what happened. Jesus simply helped me through that moment of collapse. Before long we were distracted and the day moved on. I began praying aloud every time I reached those crises moments. Every time, Jesus walked me through. I do get “me” times occasionally, now and I loooooove them. They are fun. I’m trying to accept the “me” times for what they are (fun) and not think of them as saving me, because only Jesus has ever done that. I hope that makes sense.
Hmmm, what a babble mouth.