“… to be made new in the attitude of your minds…” (Ephesians 4:23)

Last week was a challenging week. No matter what I did, situations that were beyond my control kept preventing me from getting things done around the house. At first I reacted faithfully. I prayed and trusted that God would handle all the details. As time went on and more obstacles cropped up, I began to think that I would never dig my way out of the mountain of work that was piling up.

My wonderful husband came up with several helpful ideas which I promptly shot down.

Finally my husband said to me, “You know, lately you have become very negative.” I gave him a bewildered look and said, “I have?” He replied, “Yes you have.”

“How?” I asked.

“Well for example, whenever I offer a solution you respond with all kinds of reasons why it won’t work. You are not solution oriented, you are problem focused.”

His comments made me stop and think. He was right. I had become negative and problem focused and now it was beginning to affect my faith. I needed an attitude adjustment and I needed it fast.

A Change of Mind

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2)

Negative thoughts, if left unchecked, can easily take over our mind and the result is a negative, worldly mindset. The Apostle Paul taught that we can fight worldly thinking by renewing our mind. In other words, retraining ourselves to think the way God wants us to think.

So my first step toward changing my attitude was to renew my mind with God’s way of thinking. But that led me to my next question—what exactly did God want me to start thinking about?

A Change of Focus

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8)

Paul once again showed me the direction I needed to take. I learned from the scripture above that I must focus my thoughts on things that are positive, righteous and godly. This is the way God wants me to think.

How I view things shapes how I respond to my circumstances. If I constantly think negative thoughts I will react to my circumstances in a negative way. Eventually my negativity gives way to pessimism and pessimism gives way to unbelief. The end result is that I view my circumstances as insurmountable and my faith spirals down into a pit of despair. But godly thinking leads to a faithful attitude, which in turn leads to faithful reactions.

A Change of Strategy

“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5)

How do you keep negative thoughts from attacking your mind? As the scripture above says, take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ. That is the power we have in Christ. Instead of giving into negative thinking, fight back with positive, godly thoughts. For every negative thought that comes to mind think of a positive thought to counteract it. This takes practice if you have a history of negative thinking. You’ll need to retrain yourself.

I decided to use this scripture to fight my negative thoughts.

Romans 8:31-32 says, “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

We live in a fallen world. Negative circumstances are a fact of life. It is our choice how we will react. We can give into negative thinking or we can change the way we think by fighting back with godly thoughts. If you find that negative thoughts have started to affect your attitude, don’t let it get you down. Fight back. Then you too can say, “I’ve Got a New Attitude.”

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include the entire following resource information at the end of the article and make the link back to our site live:

© 2002 – 2009 Blair Massey

Christian Lifestyle expert Blair Massey is devoted to helping Christian women around the world organize and manage their home, family and life. If you’re tired of struggling to keep up at home, Blair will show you how to unlock your God-given organizing ability so that you can start living the amazing life that God created you to enjoy! To learn how, sign up for her FREE newsletter now at www.christian-homemaking.com

by Blair Massey

Does your family struggle with being on time in the morning?  Are you tired of nagging, yelling, policing and rushing?  Imagine how enjoyable your mornings would be if everyone was ready on time?   Maybe you’re thinking to yourself, “That will never happen with my family”.  Take heart, there is hope!  You can banish the chaos in your morning routine by following these eight simple strategies.

1. Adjust Your Departure Time

By backing up your departure time a few minutes, you can avoid any persistent morning delays.  For example, let’s say that every morning right before you head out the door your 14 year old daughter decides she hates what she’s wearing and runs to change her outfit.  Her daily wardrobe change consistently puts your departure time fifteen minutes behind schedule.  Instead of being late every day, be proactive by setting your departure time back by fifteen minutes.  That way when she heads back to her room to change her outfit, you’ll still be on time with a fifteen minute cushion built into your schedule.

2. Make an Adjustment to Your “Sleepyhead’s” Wake-up Time

If you have a child that is constantly late because he likes to hit the snooze button, try setting his alarm to go off 15 minutes earlier.  That way he will wake up at the proper time.  This also works very well for adults!

3. Make a Get Ready Chart

Help your children know exactly what they need to do to get ready by making a chart that lists all the necessary steps.  If you have very young children, make a chart with pictures.  When my son was five, I had him make pictures of each thing he had to do to get ready in the morning: get dressed, make bed, eat breakfast, comb hair, brush teeth, get lunch and backpack.  Then we cut them out and put them in order on a piece of construction paper which I laminated and put on the refrigerator.  Every morning he would look at his chart to see if he had completed his steps.

4. Set up a Bathroom Schedule

If your family fights every morning over access to the bathroom, try setting up a schedule that designates specific times for each person to use the bathroom. You can eliminate these squabbles altogether if you have your children take a shower or bath the night before.

5. Train Them to Be Ready Early

Being on time is great but that doesn’t leave you with any cushion if there is a last minute snag.  Without a cushion there is no time to spare and everyone is stressed and rushed.  Why not train your children to be early?  You can do this by motivating them with a reward.  Make it a rule that if they are completely ready and it is still early, they can watch a cartoon or play for the remaining time they have left.  This has worked beautifully with our son.

6. Prepare the Night Before.

Instead of trying to do all your preparations in the morning, get as much done possible the night before.   Preparing the night before will greatly reduce the stress in your morning routine because you will have completed most of your work in advance.

Below is a general list of things to prepare the night before.  Have your children take responsibility for as many of these as possible, according to their age and ability.

• Pack up backpacks (school books, library books, homework, permission slips, etc.).
• Pack lunches.  Don’t forget to include water bottles and midmorning snacks.
• Set the table with plates, bowls, cups and utensils for tomorrows breakfast.  Set out the cereal or breakfast bars.  Adults or older children can portion out vitamins for each child.
• Everyone should lay out their clothes, including underwear, socks, shoes and accessories.  Help little ones to learn this skill by doing it with them.
• Round up sports equipment, gym bags and other things needed for after school and after work activities.
• Adults can round up things for work such as their briefcase, work files, laptop and equipment.

Have each person set their things by the door they leave through in the morning.  In the morning all they need to do is to grab their lunch, backpack and other stuff, and off they go.

7. Send Them as They Are.

If I catch my son dawdling I remind him that I will take him to school in whatever state of readiness he is in at the time.  That means if he is still in his pajamas, or his hair is not combed, that is how he will go to school.  When I first explained this to him, he thought I was joking.  One day he decided to test me to see if I was serious.  I gave him a ten minute warning to finish getting ready.  When it was time to go he was still in his pajamas.  I packed his clothes, tooth brush, toothpaste and comb in a paper bag and herded him out the door.  He was stunned that I had actually done what I said I was going to do.  Once in the car he quickly changed his clothes.  When we arrived at school he brushed his teeth and combed his hair in the bathroom.  From them on, when I would remind him what would happen if he wasn’t ready on time, he would jump up and get ready.  In fact, you never saw a little boy get ready for school so fast!

8. Set Your Clocks Ahead

If all else fails, try setting all your clocks ahead by however many minutes your crew is consistently late.  Now you can smile knowing that when they think they are late, they are really on time.

Getting your family out of the house on time is not as unattainable as it may seem.  By implement these eight simple strategies you can turn a stressful morning into a peaceful and smooth exit out the door.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include the entire following resource information at the end of the article and make the link back to our site live:

© 2002 – 2009 Blair Massey

Christian Lifestyle expert Blair Massey is devoted to helping Christian women around the world organize and manage their home, family and life. If you’re tired of struggling to keep up at home, Blair will show you how to unlock your God-given organizing ability so that you can start living the amazing life that God created you to enjoy! To learn how, sign up for her FREE newsletter now at www.christian-homemaking.com

by Blair Massey

Have you ever had a day when you felt overwhelmed by the number of tasks on your “to do” list?  Maybe you feel like this every day.  It can be a real challenge to get things done when you are faced with a long “to do” list.  Here are three spiritual principals that will help you be victorious on those tough days.

1. Pray First

“It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights.” Psalm 18:32-33 (NIV)

Prayer tends to be the first thing we let slide when we feel overwhelmed.  Can you relate?  Yet, it is the thing we need the most.

It has been my experience that whenever I don’t pray, I inevitably have an unproductive day.  I find myself spinning my wheels on frivolous things that prevent me from my accomplishing my goals.  Conversely, when I pray first the Lord provides the wind I need to sail though my tasks.

2. Have a Plan of Action

Proverbs 21:5 “The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.” (NIV)

You won’t get far if you don’t have a plan of action.  My daily plan of action includes a list of tasks, appointments and phone calls that I need to make.  Each item is prioritized.  As I finish each task I mark it off my list.  If I have not completed an item at the end of the day, I transfer it to the next day’s agenda or reschedule it for a more suitable time.

3. Don’t Give Up

Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Being the Manager of your home is a great responsibility.  Sometimes the weight of that responsibility can feel very heavy.  If you are having a difficult day, stop and recite Galatians 6:9.  This is the scripture I lean on when I am having a challenging day.  I think about how God is watching me as I work to complete all my tasks.  I picture Him saying to me, “My dear daughter, I am so pleased that you are not giving up.  Your hard work will reap a great harvest.”

Knowing that I am pleasing the Lord by not giving up gives me the extra energy I need to make it to the end of the day.  It can do the same for you.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include the entire following resource information at the end of the article and make the link back to our site live:

© 2002 – 2009 Blair Massey

Christian Lifestyle expert Blair Massey is devoted to helping Christian women around the world organize and manage their home, family and life. If you’re tired of struggling to keep up at home, Blair will show you how to unlock your God-given organizing ability so that you can start living the amazing life that God created you to enjoy! To learn how, sign up for her FREE newsletter now at www.christian-homemaking.com

by Blair Massey

Anyone who carries a purse will tell you that keeping it organized and free of clutter is a challenge. In addition, it can be a big pain in your neck, shoulder or back when it gets too heavy to carry.

If you’re tired of the hassle of rummaging through your purse to find things, try these six simple steps for achieving an organized, clutter free purse.

1. Clean It

Remove all the contents from your purse. Remove any crumbs and garbage. Next, vacuum out your purse using your vacuum’s crevice attachment. If the suction from your vacuum is too strong, try using a hand-held vacuum.

If your purse is leather, give is a shine with leather cleaner.

2. Identify It

Identify the essential items that you use on a daily basis. An easy way to do this is to put a large zip-top plastic bag into your purse. When you are done using an item from your purse, instead of putting it back into your purse, put it into the plastic bag. Do this for two weeks. At the end of the two week period you will have identified exactly what you use on a regular basis. These are the items you keep in your purse.

Here is my top ten list of essential purse items:

• wallet (ID, cash, credit cards, library card, pictures, etc.)
• keys
• sun glasses
• cell phone or PDA
• comb or brush
• hand cream
• hand sanitizer
• band-aid
• feminine products
• small pack of tissues

If you need to touch up your appearance on the go, add a compact mirror, lipstick, powder, mascara, blush, travel size hairspray and an emery board.

3. Purge It

Once you have identified your essentials, everything else should be removed. If you still think you will need something from the items you just purged, put them into the plastic bag and place them back in your purse. If you use anything from the plastic bag, put it back into your purse when you are done with it. At the end of one week whatever is still in the bag should be removed.

4. Organize It

Organizing the inside of your purse can be difficult. Unless you have built-in compartments, everything ends up in a big heap at the bottom of your purse. Try finding your ringing cell phone in that mess! You dig and dig, trying to find it. Then when you finally do find it, it stops ringing. Frustrating!

Here is my answer to this annoying problem. Consider purchasing a purse organizer like the ones made by Pursket. You can put everything you need into the convenient compartments in the organizer. All your things, including your ringing cell phone are easy to find because there is a place for each item. And the best part is that when you want to change purses you just take out your organizer and pop it into whatever purse you want to use. Nothing is forgotten.

5. Tote It

There will be times when you need to take along items that you don’t use on a regular basis. Things such as books and videos to be returned, shopping lists, dry cleaning tickets, coupons, lists of clothing sizes for your family, reading material or paperwork, and toys and snacks to keep your children occupied during appointments. These supplementary items can go into a tote that you use for errands. Keep your tote in the hall closet for easy access or next to your purse so that you don’t forget to take it with you when you need it.

If you are tempted to put something in your purse that you don’t use on a regular basis, stop and think if it would be better to keep it in your tote.

6. Maintain It

To maintain your newly organized purse, clean it out once a month. That way you’ll keep on top of any clutter that accumulates. You can use the plastic bag method again if you are uncertain about what to keep in your purse.

If you do this every month, you’ll lighten your load, have less stress when you need to find something and you’ll be able to finally find your ringing cell phone.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include the entire following resource information at the end of the article and make the link back to our site live:

© 2002 – 2009 Blair Massey

Christian Lifestyle expert Blair Massey is devoted to helping Christian women around the world organize and manage their home, family and life. If you’re tired of struggling to keep up at home, Blair will show you how to unlock your God-given organizing ability so that you can start living the amazing life that God created you to enjoy! To learn how, sign up for her FREE newsletter now at www.christian-homemaking.com

by Blair Massey

“How can I be better organized”? “How can I use my time more wisely?” “What new technique can I use to bring some balance into my life?” These are some of the questions I ask myself as I pour over my “To Do” list. In a typical day I can have a list of at least ten tasks that need to accomplished; each just as important as the next.

It is easy to can get overwhelmed when there is so much to do. Do you ever think to yourself: “I am tired of being the chauffeur, cook and laundry maid–I want to have some fun!” If this scenario sounds familiar then let me share with you what God has been teaching me about schedules.

1. What’s at the Top of Your “To Do” List?

Luke 10:38-42  As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Have you ever had a day where you felt that everything depended on you? Martha was having that kind of day. She had invited Jesus and his twelve disciples over for dinner. That meant she had a lot of preparations to make. Because of all the work involved with entertaining this large group of people, Martha was very upset that her sister Mary wasn’t helping her. In Martha’s mind, taking care of her guests was more important than listening to Jesus teach–she could listen to Jesus later. She felt perfectly content with putting the Lord at the bottom of her list of priorities. The result of that decision was that she led a “worried and upset” life.

Martha was focused on the details of the dinner and not on the One for whom she was making dinner. Martha was like many of us. We have our schedules set up for the day, week, month, and year. We work so hard at being organized and productive, but where is God on our list of priorities? Shouldn’t our relationship with Him be at the top of our list? When was the last time you got up early in the morning just to spend some quality time with God? Are you distracted by all the things you need to do?

Mary had her priorities straight. She understood that a relationship with the Lord was the most important thing. That is why she was sitting at the Lord’s feet soaking up his every word. It reminds me of the scripture that says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21). Where is your heart?

2. Pray About Your Schedule

Psalm 143:8 “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.”

As I have been growing in the area of relying on God, He has shown me that I need to go to Him each day for help with my schedule. As I pray, I humbly acknowledge that it is His day and not mine. I ask Him to rearrange or clear my schedule so that I can do what He wants me to do. I can’t tell you how many times I have prayed like this and God has moved mountains from my schedule. I have had appointments be rescheduled and deadlines extended. I have found ways to do a job faster, found that I could put a job off to another day and had a friend call offering to watch my son for an afternoon. All these things have happened AFTER I have prayed. I am learning that I need to do this every day and not just when things get crazy. It is His schedule, not mine. No matter how efficient I make my schedule, I have to remember that He is in control and I am not.

3. Pray Throughout the Day

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Our day rarely goes the way we thought it would. Emergencies come up, appointments get canceled, people let us down and plans change. It can be very challenging to meet the needs of your family when things get tossed up in the air. You think you have everything covered and then it all falls apart. That is why I love the scripture referenced above. It shows me how to handle every change in my schedule–pray continually!

When a challenge comes my way, I stop and ask God for direction. I ask Him how He wants me to handle things. He always provides an answer.

4. Don’t Rely on Yourself

Jeremiah 17:5-8  This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD. He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. “But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

When things are going well with my schedule and I am able to accomplish all my chores, errands and appointments, I tend to drift away from depending on God. Just like the Israelites, I become self-reliant and prideful. “I have it all covered. No need to worry. I am in control.”

It is easy for me to drift away from depending on God when I am not spending time with Him each day. God in His infinite wisdom always brings me back to Him using a little bit of chaos to show me my need. I’ll be cruising along with “my” agenda leading the way and something will happen that throws me off track. God makes it very clear that I am being self-reliant and not God-reliant. When I come to my senses I get down on my knees and pray for Him to lead the way.

When I take my schedule to God in prayer every day, I am like the tree planted by the stream. My load is lightened because God is taking care of all the details. I am free from worry. When I rely on myself I become frustrated and impatient. Then I am that bush in the wasteland. I won’t see any prosperity coming my way even if it is delivered to my doorstep in a gift wrapped package. All I see is the insurmountable obstacles in my way. I don’t see God because I am not praying. I am not praying because I am too busy trying to fix things myself. Does this sound familiar to you?

5. Don’t Worry About What People Think

Hebrews 13:6 “So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

It is easy to get caught up in what other people think about how we use our time. “Am I doing the right thing? What will my friends think? Will they approve?” You only need to worry about what God thinks. You only need His approval. Do what is right and leave the details up to God.

Now I don’t want you to think that you don’t need to be organized or have a schedule. The point I am trying to make is that we need God’s direction. Schedules, agendas and “To Do” lists are just tools to help us be good stewards with our time. Let God decide what tasks are most important.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include the entire following resource information at the end of the article and make the link back to our site live:

© 2002 – 2009 Blair Massey

Christian Lifestyle expert Blair Massey is devoted to helping Christian women around the world organize and manage their home, family and life. If you’re tired of struggling to keep up at home, Blair will show you how to unlock your God-given organizing ability so that you can start living the amazing life that God created you to enjoy! To learn how, sign up for her FREE newsletter now at http://christian-homemaking.com/affiliate-faqs