Reflect and Refocus: Words For the Year

I am so relieved it's finally Friday. It's been a rough week in terms of time management and simply finding time to do anything. Izzy's bedtime has gone back to 11 p.m. (or later sometimes), which means I don't get to sit down, take a breather, and prepare for next day's lessons until it's way past my desired bedtime. The difficult thing is she gets so tired already starting at 8:30 p.m., but I can try to put her down multiple times and still end up coming out of the room with a fussy yet restless baby in my arms. 

As we entered into February and our lives being extra hectic, I started to take a second look on my new years resolutions. I had all these great plans on my list - mostly small, daily actions that are supposed to take just a few minutes of my day. Perhaps I've been doing it all wrong, but as intentional as I'm trying to be, it's proven to be very difficult and I have already failed on reading my Bible and devotions every single day. And then I remembered some stuff I read awhile back about picking a word or two to focus on and live out in this new year. And it occurred to me that I really have been doing it all wrong. What I was doing the whole month of January was simply busying myself even more with more daily tasks to be tackled. I was in a rush to accomplish all the good things at once and therefore lost sight of what's truly important. After five days of thinking it over during my commute to and from work, I picked my first word for the year which goes to simplify : to make something less complicated, simpler, or easier. In my head right now that means having a simpler closet with things I actually reach for in the mornings, a non-overstocked fridge with food that is fresh, clean and whole. It also means backing out of the weekly women's study group that I recently joined. I know, I was really bummed (and still am). While I know I'll be beating myself up mentally for not making enough effort to branch out and form deeper relationships with people, I also feel like this is the right thing to do, at least for now. In order to focus more on my home life (meaning, quality time with Gary, myself, and everything else with the littles) as well as family and work life, I need to simplify my social calendar in some small ways and not overcommit my time. My second word for the year is to give, and right now that means focusing on more consistent donations to charities and opening up our home more for meals with people we love and don't get to see often.

Z and N were very happy about the puddles and their rain boots :)

This week, the littles and I came to Belltown to visit Street Bean Espresso, a non-profit coffee shop that provides employment opportunities for street-involved young people. It was established by New Horizons, an organization that helps and guides young people to exit street life. Having been thinking more about "giving", I was very inspired by this place and plan to contribute in the small ways that I can. I'm excited to talk about it more with Zoey, too.

The counter area. On the chalkboard it says "Providing opportunities for street-involved young people to reclaim their lives, one cup at a time."

Spacious interior. Inviting and not too noisy.

We got the backroom all to ourselves :)

The view from where our car was parked. Zoey was happy but Naynay, having just fallen hard on his hands and knees, did not want to get in the picture ;-)