Margin

I often feel like a less cool version of Leslie Knope from Parks and Rec. The amount of productivity she generates in a day is astounding. Scrapbooking, gift giving, caring for her friends, making up for Jerry’s mishaps, baking, tending to park matters, and more. She literally never sleeps.

The past few months I’ve taken an evaluation of how I spend my time and the results were very interesting. I was doing a lot more than I thought. And not doing it all very well.  Granted, I don’t have kids and I don’t have multiple jobs. Hence, my Mom always says, “What could you possibly be busy with?!” Even still, I had said “yes” to many commitments and it was time to reevaluate the time given to them. I began prayerfully considering what needed to be removed and set aside. Good things had to be put on the back burner, which was a hard call to make, but ultimately has brought peace and fullness to my present situation. I don’t think doing a million things with mediocrity is the right call. I think doing a few noble, healthy things with excellence is better.

I jotted down some of the things I give consistent attention to during my weeks. AND THIS IS AFTER I TRIMMED UP MY TIME SPENT.

• Quiet time with God
• Reading for personal development
• Reading for enjoyment
• Reading for school
• Reading for work
• Housework: unending
• Yardwork: harp on Big A to do it
• Exercise Little A
• Train Little A
• Shave my legs (sometimes)
• Eat food
• Track macros
• Small group
• Mentorship
• Decorate for the holidays
• De-decorate from the holidays
• Sleep 8 hours
• Get to the gym
• Go on a date with Big A
• Remember to work the 5 year plan
• Remember birthdays
• Call Grandma
• Keep up with close friends
• Keep up with far friends
• Drink my gallon of water
• Check my emails
• EAT AGAIN
• Plan fun things
• See Mom and Dad
• DO fun things
• Stay culturally relevant (read the news)
• Change the sheets
• Vacuum the dog hair
• Oh and work a full time job as a social worker. Which inevitably means I must be prepared for unexpected crises.

It’s still a crazy amount of things! AND I DON’T EVEN HAVE A KID.

My mind is constantly thinking of all the things I can keep doing. I have a feeling all of us have really long to-do lists and activities to keep us occupied.

But I felt the Spirit move me to consider something else. It wasn’t reasonable to remove all things in order to create more margin. There is a time and place to say no and remove things (I obviously did that), but realistically, we have to fill our time up somehow and a good life can still be full.

Instead, I began to hear the question, “How do I live an unhurried life in the midst of a busy schedule?” 

I’ve been sitting on this question for the past few months and I want to ask it to you as well.

How can you live an unhurried life even if you are rushing to carpool the kids, or change clothes between jobs, or as you wake up for the 4th time in the night to feed a baby? Is it possible to create pockets of peace?

Can a full schedule still be considered an abundant life as Jesus claimed to offer us?

What would peace in the midst of a hectic day look like for you?

For me, it looks like starting my day by praying and drinking my protein shake in my reading chair. It looks like turning off the radio while I drive from appointment to appointment during the day and spending time listing off things I’m thankful for. It looks like taking Apollo for walks on the canal after work and enjoying being outside in God’s creation.

Being present in small, purposeful pockets are what provides me rest and the feeling of being grounded rather than fragmented and strung out.

To me there’s nothing worse than flying through 24 hours and feeling like I couldn’t even remember what happened.

The key is to create space for brief moments of being present. SLOW DOWN AND PUSH OUT THE NOISE. Maybe if we create more margin, something new and wonderful and necessary could make its way into our life that we never saw coming.

Cheers!

 

The Granola Series: DIY Cold Brew

Confession: Nothing creative comes to fruition in my life unless coffee initiates it.

Well, maybe that’s a bit dramatic. But for all intents and purposes, it appears to be true. Each time I’ve crafted something cool or written on the blog, I’ve started with a cup of iced coffee beforehand. Therefore, I have hypothesized that in order to be creative, one must first have coffee. So it logically makes sense for me to eventually share with you my recipe for DIY Cold Brew Coffee.

If I am going to share my secret recipe with you, I must first confess something else. You should know I am NOT a former barista, I don’t know all “the things” about coffee processes, or even how to make the fancy girly leaf formation in the foam. I can’t even drink it black. Like, seriously, ew.

My appreciation for coffee is simple: it keeps me regular and it gives me creative energy.

I’m also cheap and like doing stuff on my own. So when a dear friend showed me I could make SMOOTH, non bitter tasting coffee, I was sold.

So if you’d like to give it a whirl, here it is..

The Super Secret Super Easy DIY Cold Brew Recipe 

Items you’ll need:

• 1 pound of course ground coffee (I usually go to the bulk food section and grind up 1 pound at the store – it’s usually $5-$8. This time I was at Trader Joe’s and just bought some that was ready to go!)
• 1-2 nut milk bags (amazon $12 or less)
• 1 large bowl with a lid
• 1 gallon of water 
• Glass containers with a seal of some sort (found these at Target probably)

~Instructions~

1. Pour coffee grounds into milk nut bags (I only used one larger bag) and tie off the top. Set in a large bowl.

2. Pour a gallon of water over the grounds in the bowl. (“To Grandmother’s house we go!”)

3. Cover the bowl with the lid and allow to sit for 12 HOURS. 

The coffee needs its quiet time. 

4. At the 12 hour mark, uncover the soaking coffee and whisper…

Then, gently squeeze the bags of coffee grounds. Do this only a couple of times and then put the lid back on the bowl. Let sit for ONE MORE HOUR.

 ***This is important because there will be an accumulation of sludge at the bottom of the bowl that NEEDS to settle. 

6. Lastly, slowly pour out the coffee into your glass containers. Stop pouring once you see the sludge. 

That’s all folks.

Ground and drown some beans, squeeze some bags.

Pour over ice, add some milk (or mix in a protein shake) and enjoy!

Warning: it is CONCENTRATED and is quite strong!!! My go-to ratio is half coffee with half milk/protein shake. 

And if you read this far and don’t care to try this on your own, no harm no foul. Nothing wrong with K-cups, Dutch Bros, and the Bucks. Get your joe and handle your day.

Cheers!

 

 

 

The Runt Month

When the twelve months drew straws for who would take which slot, February obviously pulled the short straw. But that is only my opinion.  I’m not particularly fond of the month called February. Now, I know what you are thinking and you happen to be wrong.  My lack of affection for February has nothing to do with the overdramatized disdain for Valentine’s Day that we incessantly hear from the mouth of those either newly singled, seasoned as a single, or those who simply think it’s silly. Shocking, I know. But February has never held my attention. And you know what else?  It happens to be the shortest of the twelve; the runt of the litter, if I may. 

So as I sit back and ponder the last 28 days of the runt month, nothing extremely riveting catches my attention.  It was a fairly swift and mellow month. But I slow down and think.  It was 672 hours. I never found myself in a coma, I had a body that was in full health, I had a vehicle to shuttle me around, and a spirit of life inside me.  It is impossible for nothing to have happened with 28 days fully loaded with opportunity. It would be an utter waste to skip February simply because it’s smaller than all the other months.  A day is a day and an hour is an hour. And I used them up just the same.

This caused me to think. Each hour that goes by moves us ahead. Are we not always moving forward?  We are never not moving forward; we are constantly propelled forward in this time continuum.  Inevitably, movement goes in specific directions.  All the little choices we make will move us in a direction. As humans, our goals, desires, and delights, are what our eyes our set upon.  Now if you combine your wants, goals, and the rushing of time, it leaves a question. 

Do we care which direction our goals are really leading us?

This leads me to think about how victories are achieved, and frankly, it is the sum of many little wins.  Little choices and little attitudes set the stage for the big choices we make and reputations we gain.  It’s the little things that build up to create the big things.  It’s a bit ambiguous, I know.  But for example, one does not become a healthier person by eating a solitary nutritious meal.  One becomes a healthier person by consistently eating nutritious meals.  Likewise, one does not get to know someone very quickly by spending 5 minutes a week together.  It takes consistent time and effort to know someone.  As I see it, I cannot solitarily wish myself into achieving my goals. I must be willing to consistently make the small adjustments that affect the course of direction; changing my attitude, taking advantage of small time chunks, planning ahead, carving out time, etc.  I am always moving forward. And quite quickly I might add. Every hour counts.  Additionally, we don’t ever stop and start over. That doesn’t make sense.  You just keep going.  So whether it’s the motivating month of January, the carefree sunny month of August, the magical month of December, or the runt month of February… an hour is an hour and every attitude we carry, every action we choose, every plan we make, adjusts the direction of our life.