Commonplace from my reread of Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry -

“ This is the story of my life, that while I lived it weighed upon me and pressed against me and filled all my senses to overflowing and now is like a dream dreamed. — Wendell Berry

Hello, again!

In May our monthly topic in Convivial Circle was limits. We talked about telling the difference between real, God-given limits we are to creatively work with in our life and the limits we place on ourselves to keep ourselves "safe" or unchallenged. We talked about creaturely limits of being women in a world that assumes masculine forms of productivity are the only kinds that count.

One theme I didn't touch on but thought about later is the limits of what our heads can hold, what we can manage in our heads, especially when our minds are trained more on distraction than memory. At our member Zoom call yesterday, ladies shared about brain dumps, time budgets, time blocks, note card planners, prayer cards, and written routines as ways they were working within their own given circumstances. Each of these tactics allow us to move responsibility from a mere mental fog to a visible form we can take action on.

If you are feeling the limits of what you can juggle right now, one limiting factor might be that you're trying to keep too much of it in your head. Do a brain dump. Update your calendar and look at it. Give yourself a short list for the week with things you can actually do. It's basic, but we all need the basics again and again. They never actually get old.

–Mystie

construction work this week

Matt had to go back to the roof peak this week to add the plumbing and radon vents.

New? My software-developer husband is building us a 5000sqft house himself, mostly solo. Get the story here.

This week -

Smile first: The secret to cheerful productivity at home part 1 of a 3 part series Watch episode -->

Stuck? How to Start When You Don't Want To part 2 of a 3 part series Watch interview -->

Want a More Productive Summer? Do These 3 Things part 3 of a 3 part series Listen to episode -->

Takeaway from Convivial Circle this week:

We had our monthly Zoom call conversation about the monthly topic (Limits) yesterday, we had several ladies asking a different form of, "Is this a real limit I should adjust to or a challenge I should rise to overcome?"

The responses of the experienced women in the group kept coming back to the same 3 things:

• Pray about it and be open-handed as you wait for guidance
• Ask your husband and trust what he says
• Look at where your time is going across your vocations to see if you're neglecting an area by overextending in another or being called to up your game in a neglected area. Look at your time budget and see if your feelings of lack of time are real or an excuse letting you avoid work.

​We'd love to have you join us in Convivial Circle!​

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Remember: Repent. Rejoice. Repeat. 💜

Mystie Winckler Christian, Homemaker, Wife, Mother, Homeschooler, Author.

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