Consistency

I'm just going to put it out there.  In full disclosure, I struggle with consistency, and that is my word for the year.  There, I said it, and now you can help hold me accountable to it!  I need more consistency which goes hand and hand with faithfulness.  And, as I think about the word faithfulness - I wonder how much of consistency has to do with really having faith that those efforts will produce fruit, will be worth it, will accomplish their mission. I've not been super consistent with blogging, but with all the adventures God has called me to this year, I'd like to be consistent in sharing my journey with you.

    I need moment by moment consistency in training and discipling my children.  I posted on Facebook a little bit about my efforts in this direction - we're going through the book on a mom's journey to end entitlement in her children and train them in consistency in things like making beds, cleaning rooms, etc.  So, we started with made beds and clean rooms.  We've had varying results.  Judah does a good job with making his bed every morning first thing and a generally good job about keeping his stuff cleaned up - then Jonathan wrecks their room and causes a meltdown.  Lol.  Jonathan, well, he's learning to consistently make his bed and his brother or I are still helping teach him how to do that well.  We're working on cleaning up after playing with a  certain genre of toys.  Legos are the bane of my existence!  I have a love-hate relationship with them.  I think they're great toys but not all over the room, beds, here and there throughout the house, stepping on them in the middle of the night, etc!  I've even confiscated bins of legos at times because I just can't do the disaster and Jonathan likes to dump out full bins to find the pieces he's missing!  Eve started strong and has had a few days of less than clean in her room lately, but overall, the dollar a day has been motivating to this teen girl to keep her room tidy, and she's generally been good at making her bed daily.  Emma?? Well, she doesn't seem to have much concept of this reward system.  She's never had much of a financial savvy.  Don't get me wrong, she likes to have money - to spend on candy... but she's had her dollars taken away most days.  Part of the idea behind this has been ownership and self-governance, so after the first few days, I told them I wouldn't remind them every day of their responsibilities in this, but this girl has got to come up with a system to keep her room clean and bed made!  Not that I mind taking my dollar back each day - saves me money, but it kinda defeats the process of this motivation - I really do want her to learn to keep her room presentable and not throw clothes/shoes, etc on the middle of her floor... or my bathroom....or the back stairs....or the hallway... Well, you get the point.  It's still a work in progress, but hopefully progress will continue to be made until we all have consistency in this!  Next month starts the meal prep - each child has a day of the week in which they are responsible to make dinner, shop for their supplies (learning to navigate the grocery store and prices of ingredients) and clean up well in the kitchen!  We also implimented a consequence jar system which has been good but...could use more consistency. :)
   Consistency in getting up early to spend time with God, get work done and work out before my day gets going has been my next goal.  Since before Thanksgiving, I had felt the Lord nudging me to start getting up at 4am in order to have consistency in these areas, but sleep is something my body really likes/needs.  I wish I was a 5-6 hour/night sleeper, but I'm not.  My body and attitude do better on about 8 hours of sleep.  How could I get up at 4am??!!  But, I knew if He was calling me to it, He could sustain me in it.  So, at the start of the new year, I made that commitment.  I've not been batting 100, but I've been doing pretty well.  Some really late nights, I'll push it back into the 5 o'clock hour, but I really have found that 4am is a good time to get up.  My biggest struggle has been wrapping up my Bible time so that I can get some work done and my work out in!  In my quiet time in the mornings, I've been reading a devotional out of  The Book of Mysteries by Jonathan Cahn, reading exerpts from They Found the Secret ( a great read about people who pressed in and came to walk in the fullness of the Spirit on a daily basis), I journal and then I read my Bible - my mother-in-law gave me a journaling Bible, which has been great - it has full empty pages by each page of the Bible to take notes and journal in!  Then, I spend time in prayer and worship too.  The time goes so fast!  It is so much my heart cry to deepen my love for Him and to be filled with the Holy Spirit - to have a Pentacost encounter that changes everything, that in everything I might live and move and have my being in and through Him.  I am so convinced that this is to be the "normal" Christian experience, and I'm determined to press in till I lay hold of constant communion with Him - more on this later.
   This morning time is also to help build consistency in my business.  To be faithful to follow up/show up for the people God has brought into my life, to share consistently about this gift of health and knowledge of nutrition that He's put in my lap, and to give my customers/friends, the best service possible - whether it's related to whole food nutrition, or find other ways to show up in their lives and bless them.  The greatest gift besides the health and healing power of whole food nutrition that Juice Plus has given me, is the intentionality to connect with and love on/build relationships with the people He's placed in my life.  I love that I get to focus on building relationships and get to grow a sustainable business to create financial and time freedom for me and my family is an added bonus.  So, I'm seeking to be daily consistent in spending a "power hour" for work.
   I need to be consistent in logging every single commitment or appointment in my phone, right when it happens!  I'm too frequently hoping that I haven't left someone hanging or failed to show up for something I committed to. Yikes!  Keeping my calendar in line and up to date is key to my life- consistency!  I've also built consistency into writing down my dreams and setting goals/actions steps to pursue them.  I'd encourage you to listen to Rachel Hollis' podcost episode 72 and start dreaming and acheiving your goals!
   Well, that's a start.  What's your word/focus for 2020?  Are you as excited as I am about the doors that will be opening, the connections that will be made, the winding and wonderous paths that will unfold before you? I hope so, because God is good and His ways are full of beauty, truth and goodness.