Let New Year’s Eve 2015 mark the first time I took down Christmas before the new year dawned… please hold your applause…!

Behold a Christmas Tree deconstructed…

Also I made a smoothie for lunch that day. A healthy fruit filled drink… no Fritos in sight…

And I rang in the New Year in high style…Sound asleep in this chair “watching” Thin Man movies on AMC and waiting for the boy to return from a New Year’s Eve party… Ever the vigilant parent I am…

I pried one eye open at the sound of the text he sent at 12:06 am and replied- in all emojis. At that point it was easier to convey my feelings on a fantastic start to 2016 with cute pictures rather than trying to form coherent sentences in my given state.

It had been a long day of de-cluttering, cleaning, redecorating and throwing caution to the wind by hanging new curtains — ok “fabric panels”… let’s call it what it is– because sometimes I’m just not motivated to sew but I’m just motivated enough to wield scissors. With all the invitations to change, start or renew habits that a brand new year brings, some things may never change!

To welcome 2016 properly, instead of trying to keep a list of resolutions, I resolved to keep practicing this habit of “redesigning” — not just for my house, but for my life. Small moves that bring big changes.

I’m so excited to share with you! So here we go:

♥ Rest

Perhaps rest is the most important thing we can do before partnering up with any change. {Just think of the long sleep that precedes the caterpillar turning into a butterfly…} Plus, it’s useful for letting our bodies catch up to our minds so we can form words and not just pictures..! Science proves that lack of sleep interferes with memory retention, increases belly fat and adversely affects moods so when I started feeling particularly ‘icky’ in body, mind and soul, I moved my bedtime up 30 minutes. Often by just tweaking the time little by little you happen upon that magic number which coincides with feeling ready to embrace the day– not just begrudgingly face it come the next morning… and that makes all the difference.

We need rest- even Jesus was vigilant about making it a priority and Elijah was invited by God to sleep and eat for his own well-being or he would be unable to make the journey ahead. Rest is what God intended for us on the Sabbath. It’s such a simple concept but so hard to put into practice. Maybe it’s time to also revive the practice of my grandparent’s Sunday naps…

♥Reclaim

Long ago and far away I had a whole house to myself. Upon marrying my guy and having the boy and the drums move in as well, I now had a full house. Add in two felines and peaceful personal spaces (ahem, my long begotten craft room…) became few and far between. Until I decided to reclaim some areas just for me (hello ruffly slip covered chair with the pops of pink on the cushions…!) I felt a little lost in my own home. I can see my mama in my memory sitting on “her” end of the couch every single night with whatever book or cross stitch she was working on tucked into the end table beside her. I decided it wasn’t wrong in the least bit to stake my claim on my own spot complete with all my favorite books stuffed down beside me in a $2 yard sale ammo crate.

Do you have a room or just a spot that is uniquely yours in your home? Is it a desk in the corner? Is the bedroom your haven? We are not only worthy of God’s love but also a comfy chair or window seat tucked away to retreat with Him …which sets us up for the next step on the list…

♥Rework

Our schedules are just nuts sometimes. There I said it. Social media, kids, jobs, husbands, families, extracurricular activities, sports, church services, book clubs, volunteering– everything seems to want a piece of us and by the end of the day we can sometimes feel like there’s nothing left to give. The way this world pushes and pulls and insinuates all.the.things it thinks we should be doing is heinous.

Jesus often woke early and retreated to a space alone to pray.

He also remarked that one thing– and only one thing– was important in the story of Mary and Martha– making time to sit at His feet. Do you have a time each day that you sit down -in YOUR spot- and pray? Read? Study? Take in the scriptures and all the life giving things that God has to offer you? Last year I fought hard against myself not to go back to sleep for those extra 20 minutes between alarms and instead take up residence in my reclaimed spot with my bible instead. And as my love for getting in the word early in the morning grew, I found myself even trying to do more things at night to prep for the next day so that I could spend more time in my quiet chair come sunrise… I guess even adults need a time out!

♥ Recreate

Try as I may, I will never be able to follow the jam-packed schedules I set up for myself. I’m notorious about penciling in way too many things for a given time-frame or veering from it completely with ten other things I think I should be doing instead. Maybe it’s the rebel in me? One thing I learned last year is that God did not call us into a life of schedules or scarcity. Abundant life, sure, but I don’t think that means over-extended, over worked or overwhelmed. We can work ourselves silly trying to make sure we have enough but continuously striving leaves little room for true recreation. God wants us to thrive –not merely survive — and to me, a big part of thriving is making time for things that are fun. Times to laugh with your family, play games, exercise, take a nature walk, play a sport, build, craft and talk with your best friends over coffee are just as important as rest.

♥ Re-imagine 

Now here’s the fun part. Once I started getting more rest, reclaimed some space, reworked my schedule to get more of God into it and expended some excess energy indulging in some recreation the ideas started coming. Once I started looking more to God and less to the rest of the world to give me rest and hope and worth it was like a switch flipped. God wants so much for us to have all that he promised us if we would only be open and willing to slow down, listen for and truly hear His voice. Since making these steps a priority He’s leading me to rethink my path in honor of Him. Opportunities and invitations are presenting themselves to serve God in new and different ways. And the best part: I’m finally able see to life as a beautiful gift rather than a drudgery.

This is the wonderful work of a re-designing life thanks to the master designer himself.

Here’s to a Happy New “You” friends! God is ready to do something wonderful with you.

Are you ready to join Him?

♥

P.S. Looking for more ways to rest, reclaim, rework, recreate and reimagine? You’re not alone! It’s my pleasure to create connection, community and sometimes cute stuff just for you! And I’d love it if you’d join our little tribe. Just click right here to get the scoop and a set of printable scripture cards! Can’t wait to meet you soon in your inbox.