Flourishing at Home in Every Season

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You were created to flourish, mama. Does that feel impossible in the seemingly endless litany of dishes, laundry, and meal preparation? Do the long, good-hard days of mothering littles have you feeling too exhausted to grow, let alone, flourish?

No matter what season of life you find yourself in, someone, somewhere will give you reason to think you can’t flourish. They will tell you it’s okay to complain and be unhappy and feel sorry for yourself because it’s hard.

The single girl waiting for the right guy to show up.

The couple wanting to grow their family.

A bigger house.

A new/different job.

Desire for community of friends and like-minded people.

The sleepless newborn nights.

The toddler drama.

But here’s the thing–

Flourishing is not the result of an easy life, health, obedient children, a kind husband, or anything else. It is the result of abiding in Christ, drinking deeply from the Word of God, and looking to Jesus for satisfaction and fulfillment.

Don’t fall for the lie that life will get better when…you’re sleeping through the night again, the toddler grows out of this phase, you have another baby, move to a bigger house, etc.

The reality is every single season of life you find yourself in will have BOTH hard and beautiful parts. What you do with the hard, how you prepare your heart, and the choices you make every single day will impact whether you grow and flourish or feel sorry for yourself. This book is life-changing if you are struggling with reconciling the hard and beautiful aspects of life and motherhood.

And here’s the thing– when you are flourishing, your family and those around you will also flourish.

I believe it is possible to flourish in every single season of life and I’d like to share a few specific areas you can flourish as well as give you some practical tips to do just that.

Flourishing spiritually

There is really no way around this, you cannot minimize time in the Word of God and expect to flourish in your soul.

God is you strength, your Rock, your Hope, your Anchor and you must be abiding in Him. You must know Him and spend time with Him.

This is one area where I think our social media world has hurt us more than we realize.

You look at your friend’s picture perfect quiet time – think softly burning candle, steaming cup of coffee, pretty journal, and pastel highlighters – and because you don’t don’t have the time or the quite for a routine like that, you give up all together.

If your time with God looks like that, great! There’s nothing wrong with that, I enjoy occasional mornings like that too.

BUT, when you have small children, that often is not the reality.

Here’s the thing: God knows the responsibilities and weight you carry on your shoulders and He meets you right where you are. I absolutely love the promise and picture of Isaiah 40:11. Here’s what it says, “He protects his flock like a shepherd; he gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them in the fold of his garment. He gently leads those that are nursing.”

Are you caring for children everyday, maybe even nursing a baby? Jesus, the Good Shepherd, sees you and gently leads you day by day. He wants to meet with you and He will meet you, when you come to Him.

Susanna Wesley, mother of many, including famous preacher and hymn writer Charles Wesley is said to have put her apron over her head when she met with Jesus to pray. When her children found her like this, they knew that this was her time to meet with God and pray. Why do I tell you this? Because, if Susanna learned to meet with Jesus in the middle moments of her day, we can too.

If you have fleeting moments of quiet, here’s a few ways to meet Jesus in the middle moments of your day.

Listen to the Bible on audio. I love to listen to a good audio Bible while I am getting ready in the morning or working around the house. I use the free Bible.is app for this, but have also heard good things about Dwell. Bonus, your kids are hearing the Word too!

Play worship music – Sacred instruments or vocal music, really any music, has incredible potential to shape our thoughts, change our perspective, and set the tone in our homes. Choose wisely, but also choose music that will focus your heart and mind on the truth of God.

Write a scripture verse on a 3×5 card and place it by your kitchen sink or somewhere else you will see it throughout the day. Maybe this is a verse you want to memorize, maybe it’s a passage you’re studying; either way, this is a simple way to remind your heart of truth throughout the day.

Choose one attribute of God and meditate on it for the day. This is an incredibly easy, yet rich method of learning and growing in your understanding of God.

Set your prayer journal near you while washing dishes or folding laundry. Our hearts are prone to stray and wander from truth. How often do you find yourself going about the tasks of your day and thinking about all sorts of random things. Keeping your prayer journal nearby can help you bring your thoughts into captivity and be intentional with your time.

Memorize scripture with your kids. Children have an amazing capacity for memorizing so why not fill their hearts and minds with truth while it is relatively easy? As you work with them, you will be memorizing scripture too, giving you a deep well to draw from on the hard days. For more about scripture memory with children, check out this blog post.

If you do find yourself in a season of regular Bible study and prayer, these are some of my favorite Bible study books and these are some of my favorite resources for prayer.

Flourishing physically

Flourishing physically can feel especially hard for us as mamas. We are often so busy taking care of our families that it is easy to neglect caring for our own bodies.

However, when our bodies are not being nourished properly, we begin to feel more exhausted, run down, and worn out, leading to sickness and chronic health issues. When we choose to take time to care for our bodies, we will feel better about ourselves and in turn, likely, find more energy, enthusiasm, and JOY in our daily lives.

Of course you could find all sorts of supplements and diets that promise more energy and youthfulness, and some of them may be helpful, but I believe it is always important to start with the basics – and?! Most of them are free!

Drink plenty of water – Drinking adequate water is HUGE in feeling your best. Dehydration can lead to headaches, fatigue, dizziness, brain fog and so many more things. Bonus if you want to add minerals to your water for extra nourishment. I like to keep a variety of electrolyte mixes on hand, these from Modere are my favorite and also these from Just Ingredients.

Walking or working out – It sounds counterintuitive to workout if you are already exhausted, but from experience, working out gives me so much more energy. If you are not in a season where you can regularly work out for whatever reason, go for a walk. Walking is incredibly beneficial for our bodies and will improve your mood and boost your energy.

Nourish, Move, Love workouts are my favorite, if you find yourself needing more of a routine. I love that they are relatively short (15-30 minutes) and you can choose what type of workout you want, arms, legs, shoulders, full body, etc. They are free on Youtube!

Eat protein – Protein is a powerhouse when it comes to balancing blood sugar and keeping you full and energized all day long. When I started eating more protein, and eating protein before drinking coffee, I noticed a huge difference in my physical and mental health. Cannot recommend this enough for women. For more about the importance of protein in your diet and a free printable with meal and snack ideas, check out this blog post.

Sleep – In sleep our bodies restore and renew themselves. Adequate sleep is vital to functioning optimally. This can be challenging in certain seasons of life, but learn to rest when you can: nap when your kids do, sit and read picture books with your children, enjoy a cup of coffee while the kids play on the playround. Make time to rest when you can and always remember that even sleepless seasons don’t last forever.

Find joy – Do things that fill your cup and bring you joy every day. It doesn’t have to be big, time consuming things. An evening walk with my family or reading books outside with my toddler on a beautiful day fills my cup and refreshes me. More about rest and refreshment in this blogpost.

Regular rest – Set aside a regular time for rest and relaxation. For us, this is Sundays. After church, we read, play games, take long walks together, or just talk. It is my favorite day of the week because we truly just rest and enjoy being together. It is such a life-giving rhythm for us. Read more about our Sunday rhythm of rest and how we make it work here.

Flourishing in your routine

As you develop a routine and rhythm for your household chores, you will begin to flourish. Rhythms give us the freedom to enjoy life, knowing that everything has a time and place to be accomplished.

I recently saw this quote from Phylicia Masonheimer and I have found it to be so true.

“Routine is only drudgery if you view it as a limitation. If you view it as the key to freedom, freedom is what you will see.”

I think it is especially true with our routines and rhythms regarding household chores. If we have a routine and set time for getting everything done (laundry, cleaning the bathrooms, etc), we can relax outside of those times knowing that it’s ok if it’s not perfect. In my opinion, it’s easier to flex out of a rhythm when you have a solid one to start with.

So how do we do that with our household chores?

There’s several approaches. Some people like to do all of their cleaning and laundry on one set day of the week, thereby having the freedom to pursue other things the rest of the week. I love the idea of flexibility this creates, plus once you get going with your cleaning it is often easier to just keep going.

I prefer to split my home into zones and clean one area each day, plus do one load of laundry every day. This keeps the cleaning to less than an hour a day and alleviates some of the pressure to have everything clean at once.

You will have to experiment and see what works best for YOUR home and YOUR family. Something may work in one season and then need to change later. That is the beauty of homemaking. My only encouragement is to find a rhythm and stick with it, at least for a time. Then sit back and watch your home flourish.

If you are new to routines in your home, check out this blog post. You can also download my free printable cleaning checklist to get you started.

Flourishing in the kitchen

Flourishing in the kitchen may seem impossible to some of you, but I promise it doesn’t have to be complicated. You don’t have to serve fancy meals or bake all of your bread from scratch to have a flourishing kitchen.

Speaking from experience, when I have a meal plan made ahead of time, or at least an idea of what meals I can make with the ingredients I have on hand, I have much less stress when it comes to meal prep.

A stocked pantry and freezer, plus an arsenal of meal ideas is the secret to healthy meals on the table and avoiding the fast food lines. This is a list of the items I like to keep stocked in my pantry.

If this is an area you struggle with, here’s my encouragement. Pick a handful of simple recipes that your family loves and rotate through them. You don’t have to have a brand new menu plan every single week to fill bellies and nourish bodies. Keeping things simple will give you far more time and energy to focus on what really matters – the relationships you have with the people in your home.

For more meal inspiration, sign up for my free weekly email meal plan here.

Flourishing in our home

Lastly, I want to talk about flourishing in your home, the literal house you live in, no matter where it is or what it looks like.

This is a huge area of struggle for many of us women, especially when we are constantly exposed to the “perfect” homes of others on Instagram, Pinterest, and the interwebs.

Here’s my take: flourishing in your home starts with your heart posture. It starts with learning to be content in whatever circumstances (and home!) you find yourself, dream home or not.

Ask the Lord to show you His goodness and gifts, to fill your heart with contentment for the home He has provided.

Open your eyes to those around you and look to meet the needs of others. I can almost guarantee you that you will find someone who is “worse off” than you and your heart will be filled with thankfulness for what you DO have.

Practically speaking, control what you can control. Is there a simple house project that you could put a little time and money into? Maybe it wouldn’t be the perfect, forever solution, but could it improve your quality of life now?

Don’t resist the overwhelming characteristics of your home. If your home has a particular feel or characteristic that you don’t love, embrace it and challenge yourself to work decor that you DO love into that. I promise it will be better than trying to fight against it.

Find a few, simple and beautiful pieces that you love that will make your home more cozy and inviting. Is it an art print? A throw blanket? Maybe a simple candle? Thrift stores are a great place to find items for your home at a great price. Don’t be afraid to wait and be patient for just the right thing.

Lastly, remember that far more important than your decor and the style of your home is the atmosphere that you create. People will remember far more about your attitude and hospitality than they will what was on your walls or coffee table.

I hope this has been helpful and encouraging to you. Some seasons will be harder than others. Some seasons will feel dry and impossible to flourish. But I believe that God created us to flourish and that He will give us the grace and strength to grow. Sometimes its those hard and dry seasons where we put down deeper roots and truly flourish as we were meant to.

“The righteous thrive like a palm tree and grow like a cedar tree in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the LORD, the thrive in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, healthy and green, to declare: “The LORD is just; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.”” Psalm 91:12-15