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Becky Parker
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I just finished typing a blog post about 5 minor changes that we have made around here that have brought more peace to our household. I thought it might be fun, and helpful, for others to share little things that they do to make their days less hectic. I'm always looking for peaceful solutions!
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Becky
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Nique
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What a fantastic thread Becky! You've given me something to think about..hoping to add to this and looking forward to what other Moms have to share 
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Chris V
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How wonderful for your family and home life Becky! Often, all it takes are some changes, some subtle, others very apparent, to alter the tone of the house.
One of the changes that I often make in my own home are my prayer displays. I have a variety of prayers about my home, all in beautiful picture frames. Some are hanging on walls, others displayed on a table or kitchen counter. I find that if I keep these prayers the same, then I don't take pause at them any more. But if I change them, then I pray more, aloud, and within myself, as I putter about the kitchen and primary living spaces. This brings me great peace.
Can I share my favorite? It is actually a canvas that I purchased a while back, and have hung it in my kitchen for my eyes to see nearly every moment I glance near the refrigerator:
Peace: It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.
This is my daily dose of taking a deep breath ~ I typically focus my glossy-eyes on this between the hours of 3 pm and 6 pm (when I tend to melt into a little blob of frustration, fatigue, and craziness...ooops, did I say *I*, ahem, I meant *my children* tend to melt into...). 
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Waverley
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I love your blog post Becky! What wonderful ideas and a good reminder that sometimes small things done consistently have more impact than one large change that either never happens or happens sporadically. Thank you so much for sharing.
Chris, I like your idea of changing prayer displays. I have holy cards taped inside of all my cabinet doors. I think I will change them up.
One small thing we do at our house is to bless ourselves and/or each other with Holy Water whenever we leave the house. Next to the front door I hung a Holy Water font low enough for the littles to reach. It started out with me blessing whoever was leaving. Now the children will often bless themselves if I am not right there. They will also frequently bless each other and me. The feel of their small hands on my forehead making the cross is a memory I hold dear in my heart.
I'd love to hear everyone else's thoughts as well.
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Becky Parker
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Waverley wrote:
One small thing we do at our house is to bless ourselves and/or each other with Holy Water whenever we leave the house. Next to the front door I hung a Holy Water font low enough for the littles to reach. It started out with me blessing whoever was leaving. Now the children will often bless themselves if I am not right there. They will also frequently bless each other and me. The feel of their small hands on my forehead making the cross is a memory I hold dear in my heart.
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We do this at bedtime and my ds has started to bless my DH and I too. It is priceless! Your comment about the small things is so true. It seems, in the past, my solution to problems was to change our schedule or something like that. I would say "okay kids, we're going to change the way we organize our day" and they would all roll their eyes. I'm realizing, (after 8 years  ) that we always go back to the same routine because that just "fits". Trying to make a big change in our schedule never works. So, it is the little things that have a bigger impact. Right now I'm wishing we could change a few of the curriculum choices I made at the start of the year. I think that is more of a medium sized change that would be productive, but we're having to make due. That's okay though. I'm being creative with what we have on hand!
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Becky
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florasita
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peace is contentment to me . I find that if I have the outlook in life even if things in the home may be sorrowful , hectic etc. to be accepting of His plan , having Trust then one achives contentment . What really really helps me is when I get in the , this isn't how its supposed to be mode is to start on my gratitude list . Find 5 things to be grateful for and it totally brings me back to that acceptance , open to Grace and once again the being of contentedness.
if it is worry that is causing the disturbance I often pray one simple prayer " Momma Mary bestill my heart "
this always brings be back to a state of peace . when I am calm and content it is almost a given that our children follow
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May I rise & rest with words of Gratitude on my Breath
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CrunchyMom
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Great list, Becky!
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Nique
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Finally getting back to you Becky! Something little we do around here is, when one of my children get hurt and come crying to me (from falling down, a scratch, bruise, like that) after hugging them, I reach for our Holy Oil THEN a band-aid.
I say outloud, "Dear Jesus, please help _____ feel better soon. Thank you Jesus!" and draw a tiny cross on the boo-boo with the Holy Oil.
Then the band-aid is placed over the Holy Oil.
After that, they always feel peaceful because of their total confidence in Jesus Who makes everything better
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I had always thought that once you grew up you could do anything you wanted - stay up all night or eat ice cream straight out of the container. ~Bill Bryson
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hylabrook1
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Love it, Becky! What an encouragement to us all!
Peace,
Nancy
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SusanJ
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A couple weeks ago I dragged myself to the pile of dirty dishes after everyone was in bed. Dh passed through the kitchen and I asked, casually, "Would you mind drying for me?" His mom had just been visiting and did the dishes every night and always got her son to dry for her. As dh dried and put away all the dishes and we both saw how fast the dishes disappear when I don't have to carefully arrange the pile in the drying rack we both said, "Why don't we just do this every night?" Almost seven years of marriage and we've finally figured out how to do the dishes. They get done every night now. Sometimes we talk but often we listen to an audio book and it's so entertaining that we find ourselves lingering in the kitchen scrubbing burners and sweeping the floor. And then the other night it dawned on us to bring the HUGE backlog of clean laundry down and fold it onto the nice, clean table. Amazing.
This isn't really a little thing but it started little and it brings incalculable peace to our home.
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Kristie 4
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Sounds like a good one Susan!!
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mom2mpr
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I so needed this thread tonight. Everyone here wrote something that touched my heart, head and weary body.
Ah, the nighttime blessings with little hand's making the sign of the cross on my forehead. I treasure thses moments, especially as the kids get bigger and bigger.
Yes, having peace in your heart in the midst of noise and chao's. Hard some days. Thank you for that quote, Chris.
Living with the rhythm that works for your family. That is what I am stressing about lately. The rhythm doesn't work for ME because we are not getting everything I want to get done, done. Hmmmmm..is it really all about me? 
And SusanJ. Thank you for sharing your story. My dh is so not into helping in the household. We joke he is allergic to dish soap. It gives me hope. And is such a sweet story. I can see you two lingering and sweeping crumbs and working together enjoying your time and accomplishing something that I am sure means a lot to you, and the family overall.
Thanks for sharing.
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Becky Parker
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SusanJ wrote:
A couple weeks ago I dragged myself to the pile of dirty dishes after everyone was in bed. Dh passed through the kitchen and I asked, casually, "Would you mind drying for me?" His mom had just been visiting and did the dishes every night and always got her son to dry for her. As dh dried and put away all the dishes and we both saw how fast the dishes disappear when I don't have to carefully arrange the pile in the drying rack we both said, "Why don't we just do this every night?" Almost seven years of marriage and we've finally figured out how to do the dishes. They get done every night now. Sometimes we talk but often we listen to an audio book and it's so entertaining that we find ourselves lingering in the kitchen scrubbing burners and sweeping the floor. And then the other night it dawned on us to bring the HUGE backlog of clean laundry down and fold it onto the nice, clean table. Amazing.
This isn't really a little thing but it started little and it brings incalculable peace to our home. |
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This is so cool! (Do people still use that word? )
My husband and I do dishes at night but it's more of a "get done as much as possible in as little time as possible and save the rest for morning  . I LOVE the audio book idea. My DH and I will have to try this.
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Becky Parker
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Nique wrote:
Finally getting back to you Becky! Something little we do around here is, when one of my children get hurt and come crying to me (from falling down, a scratch, bruise, like that) after hugging them, I reach for our Holy Oil THEN a band-aid.
I say outloud, "Dear Jesus, please help _____ feel better soon. Thank you Jesus!" and draw a tiny cross on the boo-boo with the Holy Oil.
Then the band-aid is placed over the Holy Oil.
After that, they always feel peaceful because of their total confidence in Jesus Who makes everything better |
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This is so sweet! We bless our children with holy oil when they are sick but I never thought to use it for cuts and bruises.
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Becky
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drmommy
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Wonderful ideas!
Nique-love the holy oil idea with the boo-boos! It just makes Jesus the center of all our pain, and a good lesson of sacrifice and offerings!
the BEST thing we did was get rid of cable and the tv programs. Now we just have DVDs and that broke. It freed up so much time, and the children have no idea what is "hot" anymore. It brought so much peace to our house, and my husband is not starting at the tube for hours on end to unwind....he is finding other things to do. What a blessing this has been for our family!
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MarilynW
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My five things Becky:
1) Waking up very early (sometimes hard when baby has been nursing all night) - and getting a half hour to an hour on my own for prayer, meditation, reading, tea and 15 minutes exercise.
2) Having a winter menu - with breakfasts, lunches and dinners. And making master lists so that grocery shopping planning is not taking me hours each week.
3)Returning to writing out all the younger children's plans in their Good News planners (my high schooler writes up her own and shows it to me) - they (and I) have the satisfaction of seeing all the work completed
4) Completely revamping my mud room - hanging up named tote bags for each child with their hats/gloves/caps/snow pants/soccer shin guards/baseball caps - no more scrambling and squabbling and losing things
5) Axing most of my online time. More peace in my house.
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Kathryn
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Nique wrote:
Something little we do around here is, when one of my children get hurt and come crying to me (from falling down, a scratch, bruise, like that) after hugging them, I reach for our Holy Oil THEN a band-aid.
I say outloud, "Dear Jesus, please help _____ feel better soon. Thank you Jesus!" and draw a tiny cross on the boo-boo with the Holy Oil. |
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I did this to my 2 year old last night after she bonked her head on her headboard. After I made the sign of the cross with it and said a little prayer she became so calm and looked at me with these big eyes and said "thank you mama". aaahhhhh...melted my heart! Then my 11 year old had a boo-boo on her elbow and wanted the same! So of course I obliged. This will be a new tradition! Thanks!
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Little things to bring peace
