“People like me”… ??? It was a comment on a facebook post! It got me thinking; Who are people like me? What did they mean by that? What is it about me that would make someone say that? Are they judging me and others by our Facebook pages?
I have to admit, It angered me a bit, as it was a comment that was essentially saying that “People Like Me” wouldn’t understand the struggle, because somehow our lives are “better” because our Facebook page says it is!
Have you ever heard don’t judge a book by its cover? Perhaps this can be said as well about a person’s Facebook page. Don’t judge a person by their Facebook profile.
Facebook has been coined “Fakebook” Meaning we only want others to see the “Best” part of our lives, and want others to think that our lives are somehow “Better” than they really are, almost as though we are boasting.
But, what if the opposite is true? What if we are not trying to be boastful at all? What if we just choose not to broadcast our entire lives on facebook? What if we choose to keep our personal or family struggles more private? What if we choose to struggle in private because we are not looking for others sympathy or approval?
Just because we are not posting every detail of our struggles for all to see, doesn’t mean we are not struggling. Regardless of what our Facebook Profiles suggest, we ALL have struggles and sometimes we may have no idea what someone else’s daily life may entail. We can search their facebook profile for clues, but it may never reveal the “silent” struggles others are going through.
Some choose to post about their struggles and that is also not a bad thing. It can be a source of encouragement for others struggling with the same thing, letting them know that they are not alone. So, if you are one that posts about your struggles, by all means keep doing what you are doing. Others see your story and glean from it.
Remember Facebook don’t always show the struggle, so when looking at someone’s Facebook profile, don’t look at it with the eyes of judgment, rather with a Soft Gaze.
Whether they choose to show us their struggles, their children’s accomplishments, their milestones, or their beautiful family pictures, remember, it’s not their whole story. It’s only the part that they choose to show.
I have to admit, I have always been one to hold onto things. “I might need this” or “I can reuse that for something” or “I can fix this.”
It might be an inherited trait, as I love old things, antiques, things that have meaning, or things that belonged to past family members.
But, In the past, I have also collected other, possibly unuseful, random things. Although I have decluttered my life and home quite a bit over the past several years, I still struggle with a few needless things such as jars, plastic containers, or cute boxes. My husband calls me the plastic horder.
Anyhow, decluttering doesn’t mean you have to get rid of things that you love, bring you joy, that have meaning, or hold a memory for you. It means getting rid of the things that clutter your life and do not bring you joy.
My motto is “If it doesn’t hold a place in your HEART, it doesn’t hold a place in your HOME” ~Mandy Anderson
Truth is, it’s never gonna get fixed, I will never need it, and I’m never going to reuse it. UNTIL I get rid of it, then is when I need it!!!!
BUT, what I have learned is the money it takes to replace it if I ever do need it, is minimal compared to the amount of physical space and mental peace it takes up when I hang on to it. I have also learned how FREEING it feels to get rid of a box of stuff or take out a trash bag of broken, torn, or unusable things.
Now, I am not perfect at decluttering at all! There are still times when I will put something back in a drawer or a closet and think “I might wear this” or “they might wear this” but because I do this every year, sometimes multiple times a year, and I find myself doing it random times throughout the year, it has gotten much easier to let things go.
Some advantages of decluttering…
Reduces Stress: Clutter causes stress, but an organized home has a calming effect.
Improves Focus: Clutter is a visual distraction, an organized space allows better concentration and mental clarity.
Boosts Self-Esteem: An organized home can promote feelings of control, competence, and pride.
Saves Time & Energy: Less clutter makes cleaning faster & finding things easier. Also, you have more time for family or things you enjoy instead of managing stuff.
Healthier Environment: Decluttering reduces dust, mold, and pests, improving the air quality in your home and potentially reducing allergies.
Encourages Better Spending Habits: Decluttering causes you to be more thoughtful of your purchases & conscientious about what you bring into your home.
How to get started…
Get the trashcan and 1 or 2 boxes. Label the boxes donate or consign.
Just start. It is easy to get overwhelmed and not really know where to begin. Just pick a room, a corner, a single spot or surface in your home and just start.
CAUTION ⚠️ Sometimes the mess gets bigger before it gets better. Don’t bite off more than you can chew, and be sure that you can finish the task you started within the amount of time that you have allotted.
I have created a 30 day calendar that may help. See attached calendar.
Let’s fill our year and home with things we love, bring us joy, and peace and declutter that which don’t. HAPPY NEW YEAR 🎉
It is that time of year when we reflect on the year pasted and look forward to what the New Year will bring. We make ALL the goals and resolutions with good intentions to make the coming year, THE YEAR we SUCCEED!
Some of us strive on goals and rock out those resolutions, but a large % of us give up on resolutions within a few months, weeks or even just a few days. And then, well, we feel like complete failures for the rest of the year, falling back into old, comfortable patterns. Our days filled with regret and disappointment.
I have been there many times! Many goals and resolutions fails more times than I can count. But a couple years back, I quit making those overachieving goals and out of reach resolutions. Not because I was afraid of failure, but because I was tired of failure.
I was so tired of having difficulty sticking with those strict absolutes, trying to be the imperfect perfectionist and failing miserably EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
So the past couple of years, my goal was to RESOLVE TO BE BETTER! That’s it!!! Just be better!!! A better version of myself than I was the prior year!
I start by reflecting upon the past year and think about how I could improve or would like to improve. Then I write those things down (Be sure to write them down, because if you don’t, they don’t exist or will quickly be forgotten) I write mine in my planner, so that I see it everyday.
To help I ask myself questions like…
*How can I improve my health?
*How can I improve my family life?
*How can I improve my relationship with my kids and husband?
*How can I improve as a Christian?
Here are my 2026 RESOLVE TO BE BETTER goals!
Drink more water
Yell less, pray more
Lose some weight
Cook at home more
Be in God’s word more
Pay down debt
Get up earlier
Spend less, save more
Notice there are NO absolutes. It doesn’t say drink 64 ounces of water a day, stop yelling, lose 20 pounds, cook at home 4 to 5 nights a week, read God’s word every day, Pay off house, get up at 6:00 am. Why? Because if it did, I know that I would fail miserably, probably within the first day😆
The goal is to be BETTER than the year before, not perfection!! When we set absolutes and strive for perfection and fail, we feel like we let ourselves down and are more likely to just give up and fall back into old patterns. Don’t give up! Keep Going!
Every year about this time, my anxiety starts to rise, because I know what’s coming…A Christmas gift explosion in the living room! With multiple children, it can seem like a daunting task the day after Christmas, trying to get everything back in its place and creating new space for all the new things.
For years I would experience a complete mental break down around this time of year. It was almost debilitating. I hated to decorate because it just created more clutter amongst the other clutter and I hated to shop, because bringing more bags in sent my anxiety through the roof. Christmas just seemed more like a burden rather than a joy. For this reason, I knew I had to get a handle on my home or at the very least my kids rooms before Christmas …
So several years back, when my girls were 9, 7, & 4, I started having, what I call “The Great Pre-Christmas Declutter Party”
The first couple of years were grueling, because my children had difficulty letting go of stuff, But upon the explanation that their things would be going to less fortunate children, they eventually got on board, and now look forward to “The Great Pre-Christmas Declutter Party”
Just a few days ago, my middle daughter, who likes to keep her things organized, and sometimes spends all day trying to get her room so so, threw her hands up as if it were no use. She had too many things and not enough space in her room. She was completely overwhelmed, and could no longer manage it all. This is when I knew it was time! Right on cue for “The Great Pre-Christmas Declutter Party 2025”
Here is what we do…
✅ Stuffed animals – we get two large boxes. One is labeled GIVEAWAY, the other is labeled KEEP. Everyone puts all their stuffed animals in a big pile (NO STUFFED ANIMAL IS EXEMPT-we’ve had some try to hide in the dirty clothes hamper and under the beds) We sit around the pile like it’s a campfire. Each child chooses one stuffed animal to put in the giveaway box (if another child objects, they have to choose a different stuffed animal) Then each child gets to choose a stuffed animal to keep. We keep going until all the stuffed animals are in a box. The idea is for them to choose the stuffed animals they really love first! WARNING! If there is a stuffed animal that ends up in the giveaway box that they just can stand to part with, I allow them to rescue it. It just isn’t worth the heartache and headache. After all we just reduced the number if stuffed animal by half, so it’s a win!!!! When we are finished, the box labeled “GIVEAWAY” is immediately removed, so that no stuffed animals can sneak out of the box back into their rooms. Then everyone takes their “KEEP” stuffed animals back to their rooms where they find a good spot to keep them, whether it be on their bed, in a corner, or in a stuffed animal net or bean bag.
Then I take a day or evening for each child to go through each of these areas of their rooms.
✅Cubbies: We go through each cubby one by one, throwing away trash & broken toys, removing unwanted or no longer played with toys to donate or sell. We then put like toys back in cubbies (you can label them if you like, but we typically don’t) barbies in one, horses in another, fidgets in another, and so on.
✅Drawers: We get 3 totes or boxes. One labeled “PASS DOWN” with the next child’s name and size. One labeled “SELL” and one labeled “DONATE”. We go through each drawer one by one, getting rid of clothes with holes, rips, or stains and putting the clothes that are still good but too small, in the labeled totes. Then we sort the clothes back into specific drawers. One for pants, one for shirts, one for socks and panties, one for sports, or you can sort by season.
✅Closets: We remove all clothes that are too small or they no longer wear and put in their respective totes labeled as above. We then organize the closet based on season.
This is the important part!!!
After the clothes cleaned out, I turn all the hangers around so they face the wrong direction (after they wear the clothes, they hang them back up with the hanger facing the right way) That way when we do this the next time, we know which clothes they didn’t wear and so that helps the process go quicker the next time.
✅Shoes: We go through the shoes and toss the ones that are too worn and put the ones that are too small in their respective totes from above.
✅ Flat Surfaces: We declutter all flat surfaces in their rooms using the same method as above. Trash, Pass Down, Donate, Sell.
✅Large toys/furniture: We look around the room and decide how we can make it less cluttered. Sometimes we move furniture around (It made my middle daughter’s heart happy to move her bed last night) Let’s face it, we all need a change sometimes. Sometimes we decide to get rid of larger items or toys that they no longer use or play with, or have grown out of.
During this process, I have always tried to teach my girls the organizational skills it takes to keep a neat and tidy room. These are skills that I am still learning myself and we work through them together. I purposely do not clean their rooms myself nor do this process on my own. I think it is important to involve them in the process, as it teaches them the skill. I also teach them “If it doesn’t have a place in your room it doesn’t have a place in your heart” ♥️
✅Lastly, Each child always gets some sort of organizational tool for their rooms for Christmas. Here are links for some we have gotten in the past, some I’ve mentioned above, and some they are getting this year
The leader asked for praises in kids church this morning…
The smallest boy raised his hand “My elf came!” He said proudly.
The other children piped up “My elf came too” , “Mine too” said another.
“Raise your hand if your elf has come” Said the leader. Little hands raised high about the room and waved with excitement, but the one little girl in pink sat quietly with her hand not raised…
After all the elf commotion calmed, she quietly raised her hand and waited to be called on. I stood in the back of the room holding my breath.
My “SHEPHERD” hasn’t came yet because he got stuck somewhere” she said happily as if she had “faith” that he was coming, he was just running late!
Shew! I was relieved that I hadn’t let my youngest daughter down and I was so proud of her. She didn’t skip a beat, when saying ” My SHEPHERD” not ” My Elf”
Back several years ago, When my girls were at that age and all the Elves on the Shelves were coming to visit their respective families, I struggled whether or not I was going to embrace that tradition or steer clear of it.
I wrestled with the thought of this “ELF” coming into our home causing mischief and chaos. As if I needed another small person in the house causing mischief and chaos. I was quite sure we had enough of that without creating more! It just didn’t make any sense to me. I couldn’t get on board with another fictional character taking up time around the Christmas season that should be spent focusing on the Birth of Jesus. I was convinced we didn’t need an elf!
But as mothers often are, I was riddled by guilt, because my children were seeing other children who were talking about the things their elves were doing and they felt left out of the fun.
If you have an elf on the shelf, I am not judging you. I am with you. With love from one momma to another. We are all just out here doing our best to make Christmas memories with our kidos. Keep on keeping on ❤️
Now, I have never been one to follow a trend, I am always the one who goes against the grain! Just ask my Dad.
But a “SHEPHERD ON THE SHELF” that guided you toward Jesus!!! YES, that was a tradition I could get behind and well my kids have loved it! They ask every year. “When is our Shepherd coming?”
So, like my little girl in pink said so proudly, and with much faith, in kids church this morning, Our SHEPHERD hasn’t come yet because he is “stuck” somewhere. But knowing she is anxiously awaiting for his return warm’s my heart!
Is the Shepherd really “stuck” …No, but honestly life happens, and well the Shepherd often gets lost in the shuffle, just like Jesus gets lost in the shuffle of light’s, parade’s, shopping, and gifts!
Fitting, the whole lesson that I and the other leader taught in kids church this morning was centered around God’s blessings. God’s blessings do not come in a pretty wrapped gift under a tree at Christmas. Those gifts only bring temporary happiness. But trusting in Jesus as our savior, brings eternal happiness in Heaven.
So, I guess it is time for our Shepherd to make his way back to our home, so that he can help us get back to the true meaning of Christmas.
See his debut in the picture ⬇️ 
Do you want to create that lasting tradition in your home, that points to Jesus during the Christmas season? You can find the Shepherd’s Search here https://amzn.to/4iK6P5U
My favorite flower has always been the daisy. Although we are totally out of season for that, the point of this post is always in season, because it is about L.I.F.E.
I had planned it out perfectly… from the dress, to the decor, to the flowers in the bouquets. Daisies of course!
I had forgone my vegetable garden I had been tending to for several years prior to planting the daisies I would use in the bouquets for my wedding.
After weeks of tending, weeding, and watering the Daisy garden, they were starting to peek out from the soil and spring up as the sunny and rainy days passed by.
Growing taller, and starting to give off a familiar look and smell, I was so proud and showed my fiancé. To my dismay, he stated a fact that had somehow escaped me in all my hard work and excitement. “Those look a lot like tomato plants.” He insisted. But, I insisted he was wrong and they would be blooming the most beautiful daisy bloosoms soon enough. Just in time for our June wedding.
The days and weeks went by and the tending, watering, and weeding continued. But something was odd. Something was off, and the smell of those daisies was a very familiar smell, however, I was unable to put my finger on it. Then it hit me!
The year before I had a large amount of cherry tomatoes that I shared with the entire neighborhood in my garden. Unbeknownst to me, as I happily tilled up my garden that spring to be planted in daisies, I was somehow broadcasting those cherry tomato seeds all about the garden! My fiancé was right! These were not daisies growing in my garden. I had a garden full of cherry tomato plants!
I was devastated! All of that work, all of that tending, all of that love, sweat, and then came the tears!
Isn’t that just like life? When you want daisies, life gives you cherry tomatoes!
Ever since then, I have been planting daisies (not actual daisies, but the daisies of life) but it seems someone or something is always right behind me digging up that which I am planting.
Do you ever feel that way? If so, I want to invite you on a journey with me filled with life lessons, God given inspirations, mother hood, wife hood, farm life, homeschool life, brutal honesty, hard truths, practical tips, cleaning tricks, green living, & anything else that comes my way lol. Nothing is off limits! Life has a way of throwing curveballs and well, I’M HERE FOR IT! Are you with me?
Just Planting Daisies 