Edie Wadsworth

Time. On Purpose {A Link-Up}

January 30, 2013 by Edie Wadsworth 23 Comments

I am SO thankful and humbled by your response to my ebook. You are so generous and kind and I love you all. If you haven’t had a chance to purchase it, you can still get it for $5 here. Subscribe to my blog via email and receive my February newsletter here!

This year, I made a goal to live with more intention-—to find ways to spend my time, my money, and my gifts more wisely.

It’s so easy for us to fill our lives with so much stuff that we leave little room to serve others, to dream our dreams or to make art.

Seth Godin says in his new book, The Icarus Deception: How High Will You Fly?
:

“Art is the act of a human being doing generous work, creating something for the first time, touching another person.

Art isn’t something you hang on your wall. Art is something you do when you’re truly alive.

Art might scare you. Art might bust you. But art is who we are and what we do and what we need.

An artist is someone who uses bravery, insight, creativity, and boldness to challenge the status quo.

Art isn’t a result; it’s a journey. The challenge of our time is to find a journey worthy of your heart and your soul.”

So, yes, I want to use time well. To serve others. And to make art.

**********************

And now it’s your turn.

Tell us all about how you’re turning time into your slave and not your master!

If it’s your first time, don’t fret! You won’t implode the internet if you do it wrong, I promise:) If you need help with linking up—why does linking up seem so scary?—go here and you will see that my friend, The Nester, is brilliant and has made a linky practice page with all kinds of instructions and hand holding. She’s so cool like that.

Please link back to this post so your readers will have a chance to benefit from all the wisdom!

And thank you for joining the revolution of Life. On Purpose!

If you’re not linking up, tell us in the comments all your best time secrets!

Working Hard, Making Margin {on purpose}

January 28, 2013 by Edie Wadsworth 31 Comments

January is always a frenzy for me.

I reevaluate everything.

What am I doing and why am I doing what I’m doing?

I decided to write with more purpose this year so I gave January the theme of ‘time management/productivity’.

I started the month off by tackling one of my major stressors in time management: menu planning.

I can’t tell you how relieved I am to have that more under control.

But I know that time management is an issue for you too because this is probably the number 1 question in my inbox.

“How do you do it all?”

That question stymies me because many of you must assume that I do ‘it all’, whatever ‘it all’ means.

And the irony is? That’s what I ask all my very productive friends, too.

I’m gonna post our daily schedule later this week but I wanted to start with some general principles I follow when it comes to how I spend my time.

1. Do a few things well

I love analogies and metaphors. And it may sound trite to say it but life is like a garden. It’s better to plant fewer things and tend them well. I have often done just the opposite. I get so many things going that I can’t see straight and then I wonder why none of it gets done well. I’m really trying to learn to narrow my focus. What is it that I LOVE to do? How can I schedule my time to do those things and do them well. I love to read and write. That is my passion.

But I can’t tell you how many times I’ve looked across the internet at some of my very talented friends and said, “Maybe I should start a photography business,” or “Maybe I should start small sewing business,” or “Maybe I should start singing Tammy Wynette songs for birthday parties.”

But the truth is, my plate is full. And if I tended well the things I already do like teach and write and keep the home fires burning, I don’t really have time for a new business venture.

This is the year that I really want to hone in on the things that I love and do well. I want to work hard at perfecting my craft. There’ll always be time for a karaoke business?!

2. Work your passion

Notice I didn’t say just ‘find your passion’. Dust out that part of your brain where your dreams live and ask yourself, “What was I created to do?” The answer to that question is easier than you think. Start with what do you LOVE To do. What is that one thing that when you do it, you lose all track of time? That thing you would do even if you weren’t getting paid or recognized for doing it. Have you found it?

Like Howard Thurman said above, “What is the thing that makes you come alive?”

As a very wise blogger, Tsh, blogger at Simple Mom, said once, find the intersection between what you love to do and what you’re good at and you will have found your element—-the zone or sweet spot where the magic happens.

And maybe you already have a full schedule too but I bet if you used your time more wisely, you could make time to work your passion. Have you always wanted to write music, get involved in a charity, run for office, write a book? Then, what steps are you taking to make your dreams become reality.

That song’s not gonna write itself. Make a commitment to yourself to find what makes you come alive and go do it.

Get up earlier. Stay up later. Work hard at perfecting your skills. They say you have to do something for 10,000 hours or 10,000 times before you perfect it.

That’s alot of hours to work at something. But your dreams are waiting at the end of that challenging road. Lace up your shoes and get going!

3. Schedule margin

I wrote about margin and solitude in my ebook, so I’ll tell you what I said there.

Our lives are chaotic and cluttered and full. We lack margin. We don’t know how to quieten the buzz. We don’t really even want to. But when we lose margin, we lose our humanity. Margin is the space between us and our limits. It’s what gives us the time and compassion to listen. Maybe every good thing that happens, happens here, on the sidelines, in the space between us and our schedules. And we miss it because we haven’t learned to listen. Because we’ve made lives with no margin. No room for what might be. No room for the soul to breathe.

And I’ll add to that today.

Margin is where your dreams are born. Margin is where you find that sweet spot, where your passion intersects with your gifts.

But you won’t find it if you spend your whole life just going through the motions, just doing the next thing.

Get out a pen and paper and find a quiet spot. Write down the things that you really want to do with your life.

And start making time for the things that matter.

*******************************

I hope you’ll join me in this month’s link-up! We’re meeting here this Wednesday, January 30th with posts related to any of the ways you’re making time work for you. If you’ve been doing the meal planning, link that up. If you’ve written a New Year’s post about your plans and schemes, link that up. If you’re pondered how you can use your time to serve others well, link that up. Almost anything goes here and we can’t wait to see what you’re up to!

**I’m working on making a button for you but for now, you could just drag the above photo onto your desk top and add it to your post.

**************************

Books that have helped me schedule my time better are:

1. One Bite at a Time by Tsh Oxenreider. I also just purchased her book Organized Simplicity: The Clutter-Free Approach to Intentional Living.
I love her blog, her podcast, everything she says and does. She’s my mentor and doesn’t even know it. It’s on my to-do list to tell her how much she’s inspired and helped me.

2. Crystal Paine’s ebook,21 Days To A More Disciplined Life has been a big help, too. Crystal has a great blog, Money Saving Mom, about home management and saving money. You’ll be inspired.

3. Micheal Hyatt’s ebook Life Plan, which you get free for signing up to his email service. I also love his podcasts. He’s very inspiring and offers lots of practical advice on productivity.

the gift of Hospitality, the gift of art

January 24, 2013 by Edie Wadsworth 40 Comments

If there’s anything I’ve learned from five years of blogging and publishing my first ebook, it’s this—–when people share their gifts with you, handle with care.

That song or poem or post or painting has likely come to them at a heavy cost.

They have been brave and generous in their sharing and we are blessed by their gift.

The emotion and self-doubt that I’ve been plagued with this week has reminded me that I have not encouraged them enough.

I haven’t told them how much their art has impacted my life.

I’ve been busy and preoccupied and selfish.

And now that I’m on receiving end of so much kindness, I am just stopped dead in my tracks.

I’ve been on an emailing spree this week, thanking the people who have bravely blazed a trail of light in this noisy, dark world.

And I’ll never look at created work the same again.

This has been such a valuable lesson to me.

Thank you, to all of you mommas, who bless us with the work of your heart and hands.

The world is better because you share.

*************************

If you’d like to host a giveaway on your blog, let me know and I’d be happy to send you and two of your readers a free download,

as very small way of saying ‘thank you’ for showing up, for making the time, for taking the criticism, and for doing the work you were made to do.

**************************

If you haven’t bought the book yet and would like to buy it now for $5, click the buy now button. Once you pay, you’ll be redirected to downloads page. If you don’t get redirected, let me know and I’ll email you the link.

If you’d like more information, click here.

Thank you to all my awesome friends who have shared about the book already: Darlene, Angela, Emily, Ruth, Shaunna, Emily, Tara, Paige, Sibi, Jennifer, Ruth, Heather. Your posts remind me that I’ve got the best friends. I love you all dearly!

For those who’ve sent emails and messages about my new ebook—-THANK YOU so much!

Here area a few of my favorites—that make me all verklempt.

from Mary-Beth

I just wanted to tell you that I just finished reading the Ebook and I LOVE it. I found your blog in BHG this month and loved your house, so I looked up your blog. I pored over your archives and read and reread your 31 day series on hospitality and shared it with all my girlfriends. I am 30, live in Austin, TX, and I’m a stay at home mom to my two little boys, who are two and a half and 5 months old. I resigned from my work as a pharmaceutical research auditor after my first child and was saddened that so many people told me I was wasting my education to stay at home. I am putting my education to perfect use! Your writing SPEAKS to me. I seek Christ with my whole heart and my heart’s desire is to glorify Him moment by moment, though I always fail. I think I feel so connected to the words you write because your love of Christ and repentance comes through in your writing. Since finding your blog a whopping two weeks ago, I have ordered a ridiculous number of books from Amazon, embraced my inner soup making goddess, set up a baking station, perhaps gained 2 pounds, just finished _The Privilege of Being a Woman_, and am listening to Issues, Etc. podcasts daily. All this to say: I think you are doing a stellar job with using your blog to encourage other women and glorify Him. I have noticed from reading others’ comments on your posts that so many of us have the desire to be more adept at being godly keepers of home, but we lack mentors. I love that you are giving a voice to those of us who carry on what is really an ancient and sacred role, raising families who seek Christ and modeling Christ’s love to our children. I am just so happy I came across your house in BHG.

Warm regards and big fat hugs from Texas,

Mary-Beth Archer, www.shortsweetseason.blogspot.com

Needless to say, Mary-Beth is my new BFF and has agreed to make me an honorary Texan.

my sweetie sister (this one made me teary)

“Just finished the book. It was amazing, life-changing, heart-wrenching, God honoring, funny and I loved it. Sissy, you have truly found your ‘sweet spot’! Fabulous!! Thank you for your time and endless effort on this project! You are such an inspiration to me and I’m thankful for you. Love you.”

How blessed am I to have a sister like that? I know, pretty darn blessed.

And the one that still has me laughing:

“PLEASE UNSUBSCRIBE ME FROM YOUR BLOG. I’ve tried several times but I still keep getting emails. It’s like Hotel California.”

Now, that’s just funny. And I was finally able to unsubscribe her. I don’t blame her a bit, I unsubscribed too—-from my own blog. Too many emails 🙂

I’ve since remedied that and am not sending emails every time I post. It’d drive a fella to drink, all those emails.

You can safely subscribe now with my new email service and I promise it’s not at all like Hotel California. All together now, “You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.”

Subscribe here 🙂

31 Days to a Heart of Hospitality {an ebook for you}

January 21, 2013 by Edie Wadsworth 114 Comments

Since I can’t bake you a pie and whisk you off to my screened porch for a good cup of a coffee and a long chat, this ebook is the next best thing.

This work is born out of heartache. When we lost our house to fire 2 years ago, I wasn’t sure I’d ever recover.

I sat in our driveway and watched our dreams burn to the ground.

I grieved so many things and felt loss like I’d never known.

I cried out for answers. Why us? Why this?

But our suffering isn’t lost on our Father. It’s only His grace in disguise.

And He will twist every heartache into joy.

While we worked hard to rebuild the bricks and mortar, He went to work on our stone hearts.

The truth is, we don’t have to lose everything to feel our poverty. We sense it in the depths of our souls.

It’s all just rubble. And our card houses teeter on disaster. We’re all a mess, house fire or not.

We know we need someone——-someone who knows us and loves us in spite of ourselves.

That is the hospitality of scripture.

That is the warm welcome we receive from Christ himself.

Hospitality isn’t about inviting people into our perfect homes, it’s about inviting them into our imperfect hearts.

It’s about learning to live from that vulnerable place where we open ourselves to love.

And ultimately, it’s about Him—-The perfect Host who provides for everything we sinners need, right down to the best wine for the wedding feast.

This ebook is for anyone who has felt his own poverty and known the redemption of being loved anyway.

This is hospitality, on purpose.

************************

The ebook is available in two forms, as a pdf and as a digital epub file. You get both forms of the file for $5.

If you want to read the book on your computer or print it out, you’ll want to download the pdf file.

If you want to download the file to your iPad, iPhone, or iPod, then you’ll want the epub file.

You will get access to both the pdf file and the digital file with your purchase.

Note about the download!!!

It seems that about 10% of you aren’t being redirected to the page that contains the downloads. If you have trouble, just email me and I’ll send them to you myself!

My email is “ediewadsworth(at)mac(dot)com.

If you’d like the chance to receive free downloads later today, please leave a comment and either tweet or facebook about the ebook’s release! Thank you so much in advance for spreading the word!

Don’t forget to visit my freshly updated ‘About’ page and then head on over and subscribe to my blog via email!

I dreamed a dream…….

January 21, 2013 by Edie Wadsworth 27 Comments

“In the hero’s journey, the wanderer returns home after years of exile, struggle, and suffering. He brings a gift for the people. That gift arises from what he has seen, what he has endured, what he has learned. But the gift is not the raw material alone. It is the ore, refined into gold, by the hero/wanderer/artist’s skilled and loving hands. You are that artist. You are that hero. Give us all you’ve got.”

Today is the day for remembering dreams.

People’s dreams change the world.

Their dreams become the realities that make us see things differently.

Their dreams become the songs that inspire us, the buildings that impress us, the books that transform us.

Their dreams are the fuel I have lived on for most of my adult life.

But then you and I must ask ourselves, “What are our dreams?”

Dare we speak them or harder still, share them? What about the fear that paralyzes us, that threatens to choke off our dreams before they’re given a proper chance?

I wrote my dreams down once.

But I kept that paper clutched tight to my heart.

Because what if? What if I’m not good enough? What if there’s not enough time or money or talent?

What if life gets in the way? What if my dreams never come true?

And I’ve spent 30 years chasing a lot of things, maybe even a few dreams.

Some have come true and some are buried beneath a heavy yoke of excuses.

Here’s what you need to know, my friend.

We need you to dream your dreams.

But more than that, we need you to do the hard work that it takes to make those dreams come true.

What if you finally had the courage to speak your heart to the world.

What is the dream you dream?

What is the gift that you have to bring to us from your years of struggle.

We need you.

Your gifts, your dreams —–could change everything.

****************************

Tomorrow, I am releasing a little dream of mine into the world.

(I still hold tight to my lifelong dream of being traditionally published but for now, my dream has smaller wings!)

After months of long hours in front of my computer, I am finally ready to release my first ebook!

I could really use your help to spread the word.

Thank you, in advance, for how you have supported my struggle and my art through the years.

You have given me the courage to show up, to dream, and to write about the hope that is in me.

Bless you for that.

Now, give us what you’ve got!
Anne Hathaway “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables

quote above from The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield.

Meal Planning for Busy Moms, the conclusion

January 18, 2013 by Edie Wadsworth 45 Comments

This is the conclusion of a 4 part series. Read part 1 (the why), part 2 (the where), part 3 (the how), first and then come back here to get the full picture of how to integrate this meal planning guide into your normal routine!

meal planning for busy moms

If you’re a busy mom in need a meal plan that works, you’ve come to the right place. This is the conclusion of a 3 part series on how to significantly reduce your stress, while feeding your family well. Follow the links below and kiss the 5 pm meltdown goodbye!

I’m making a commitment to myself this year to do things with more purpose.

To make a plan for the things in my life that cause me stress and time.

I may have tackled the hardest one first—-meal planning.

I’ve come up with a way to use some online tools to create a year’s worth of meals in as little as a month.

Part One was all about why you should consider developing a meal plan.

Part Two goes into lots of (painful) detail about exactly how I set up my Google Calendar to plan my meals and then have them repeat as often as I’d like.

Part Three combines Google calendar plus some great time saving websites like eMeals and Ziplist to streamline your menu planning and grocery shopping.

I guess I haven’t solved everything. That dinner’s not gonna cook itself. But for me, the hardest part is the planning and shopping. Once I have a recipe and the ingredients in my possession, I’m an armed and dangerous chopping and sauté-ing machine!

The beauty of this program is this—-there are countless ways that you can use these resources to customize something that works perfect for your family. You don’t have to do it just like I’m describing but there’s probably some online tool that you can use to make this part of your life more peaceful and nourishing.

And we all have to eat. Multiple times a day.

So, having some sort of plan at getting better only makes sense.

Now that you’ve had a few days to think about it and implement your system, I’d love to know all about it.

I’m adding links to some great recipes that will help you get started in your quest to get dinner on the table. Some are from my first list and some are your suggestions.

Thanks for all your great ideas!

Happy Weekend and Happy Cooking!

For some new ideas, check out my What’s for Supper board, along with my Breakfast, Soups, Bars and Cookies, and Cakes and Cupcakes Boards!

Chicken Tetrazinni

Marlboro Man Sandwiches (we had these today as leftovers and spruced them up by adding an egg-over-medium onto the sandwich—-I’m pretty sure my new motto in life is to add egg to everything—-it was divine!)

Lasagna Soup (one of my favorites!)

Pasta with whiskey, wine and mushrooms

Homemade Sesame Chicken

Pasta, Pesto and Peas

Salmon with Lentils

Broccoli and Shrimp Pasta

Skillet pork and peppers

Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables

Cheese Tortellini Soup

Creamy Lemon Orzo with grilled chicken

Fusilli with Sausage, Artichokes and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Lemon and Garlic Roast Chicken