A Day in the Life: Stacy {Mom of 3 Striving for Change While Living in Grace}

By Stacy Karen, Contributing Writer

This is my third year writing a day in the life post for Keeper of the Home. And I must say, it feels strange! It’s caused me to reflect over how my life has changed in the past few years and I’m wrestling with a little frustration over the fact that I’m not changing as fast as I’d like to.;

When my health fell apart last year (I ended up being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease), my home suffered too. It’s been a hard journey for the whole family. Some days I carry a lot of guilt and shame. Others, I’m trucking along just fine. It’s a mix.;

I hope this retelling of one day in my life will show how I am striving for change, while giving myself grace. I also hope it demonstrates;how I’ve come to accept the help of others, simplified things, and stopped packing my day full to the brim.;

The day I chose to share is a Tuesday. Tuesdays are nice days for me; my mother-in-law takes the kids for a few hours after lunch and my introverted-self gets a little quiet time. I look forward to Tuesdays every week.;

And for a little background, I’m a stay-at-home mom of three kids, ages 13, 9, and 4. We homeschool. My;husband is a preacher and works next door.;

6:30 a.m.

The day begins when my alarm goes off. I hit snooze and rest for ten minutes. So much advice about becoming an early riser suggests NEVER pressing snooze, but, it’s my way of easing into the morning. Those ten minutes of snooze time are delicious. It’s an opportunity to wake up a bit and feel rested before I start to move around. I aim to only hit snooze once.;

I’ve also taken to making my to-do list the night before, so I know exactly what I’m doing when I get up. Here are some of the tasks I planned for today:

After the alarm goes off again, I get up and go to the comfiest chair in my living room. I grab my Bible on the way. Once I realize I don’t have my book light, I get the iPad;instead. (Everyone will wake up if I turn on a light. This house is small and the rooms are close together).;

I open my Bible App and read Psalm 27. I’m praying this passage for a friend who requested it. I think about her situation and ask God to turn things out for good. I sit in awe of my friend’s faith, too.;

After reading, I move to the floor and do some push-ups and squats. These are nice, quiet exercises that don’t wake anyone!;

Next, I do some stretching. I pull out the iPad;again and read while I stretch. I read this wonderful post by Ann Voskamp and feel determined again to be intentional with my kids today. Why is that so hard sometimes?

Then I mess around on Facebook for a while.;

7:30 a.m.

I put on water for tea. I discovered an allergy to coffee a few months ago and I still miss it some mornings!;

I pray for the day. My daughter starts a new class this morning, so I pray especially about that. We have some concerns and are not sure how it will go.;

While the water boils, I start breakfast (sausages and eggs, plus a tiny bite of spinach). From the freezer I grab a bag full of chicken and veggies. This will become our dinner. (I prepped a bunch of freezer meals over the weekend, using a gluten-free Costco meal plan. It was the easiest freezer cooking I’ve ever done.)

Since I forgot to thaw the bag out last night, I cut it off and place its contents in the Crock-Pot. Hooray for massive Crock-Pots! It’s great to know that this frozen mass with become soup by dinner time.;

7:45 a.m.

The kids start to wander out. After many years of super-early mornings, I treasure these later ones.;

My son is excited about the sausages for breakfast (he’s been asking for them), but my 4-year-old tells me she doesn’t like sausages.;

8 a.m.

We sit down to breakfast and read Proverbs 1 to the kids. I only get a few verses in before my son has demolished his breakfast and wants more.;

We get through the chapter amid plenty of interruptions and a few pauses to get my littlest to eat her sausage. (Which she ends up liking!)

As we clean up after breakfast, my son talks to me about his upcoming birthday. My oldest has now gone to shower and the youngest is playing at the table.

8:30 a.m.

I’m feeling productive. Then I look down and notice I’m still in my pajamas!;

I’m headed to the room to get dressed and also help my 4-year-old get ready for the day.;

My older kids do math with their dad while I do a little “school work” with my youngest. I’m finding that giving her attention first is helping the rest of the morning go more smoothly.

Once we are done I fold some laundry before taking my oldest daughter to her class.;

I’m thankful my husband is willing to stay home with the other two while I do this.;

We arrive at class. Once my daughter is settled, I work on my lesson for the ladies devotional. I only teach once or twice a year and tonight is my turn (along with another friend). We are working though the fruit of the spirit. My topic is kindness.;

As I work, I listen to the interaction between my daughter and her teacher. I’m really happy with how well it’s going! Phew.;

Once the lesson is over, we head back home and my husband goes to his office. The kids and I work on their other school lessons until lunch time.;

This time is peppered with a few difficult moments. Since my kids are getting older, I won’t write much detail about that;online, but I’m sure you can imagine.;

Part of the time I help my oldest prepare for an online class she will be taking. While I do that my son helps his little sister with a reading lesson.;

We have a quick lunch (leftovers from dinner) and head to grandma’s house. Throughout the morning I have been gathering necessary items to take with us:

My mother-in-law does a little a schooling with them too. I know. I am seriously blessed!;

The kids only take a few things to work on at Grandma’s. But it gives me permission not to rush the morning and also provides a little break. It’s really nice not to have to do everything.;

I stay and chat a while with my mother-in-law then head back home.;

Once home, I work on taking pictures for an upcoming project;(which releases today! If you’ve ever wanted to host a spa night with your friends, you’ll want to check it out).

I edit pictures;and try to make an ad.;

Two hours goes by fast and it’s time to pick my son up for martial arts.;

I go get him and take my ;notes for the ladies’ devotional to look over while I wait.;

I am thankful to have found some things close to home. In the past I have travelled a lot further to get to classes and activities, but recently, we have discovered some that are only minutes from our house. This is a huge time-saver and blessing!

After martial arts, we go to Grandma’s to pick up the girls. Grandma has fed them dinner! Yay. I forgot she would do that when I put my meal in the Crock-Pot this morning! But, it won’t go to waste since my husband still needs dinner and we can eat it for lunch tomorrow.;

My son eats while I talk with my mother-in-law. Then we go home.;

5:30 p.m.

My oldest and I head outside to take a photo for her;profile picture in her online course. She wants an image of her hands writing (since she loves writing so much). I take the picture and accidentally sit in a puddle. Yep.;

6:00 p.m.

I decide to live on the wild side and take a shower before the ladies devotional. (It starts at 7 p.m.)

I let the kids watch a show while I get ready.;

My husband gets home and I give him a bowl of soup as I head out the door with the 13-year-old. We go to the ladies devotional and have a nice time visiting with everyone.;

I pretend I’m not nervous and deliver my lesson. You can get the gist of what I said here: On Kindness.

After the devotional everyone stays to chat and eat. My daughter is ready to go home and I take her to the house. I come back and visit some more.;

Many of the ladies stay longer than usual. I don’t get home until almost 10 p.m. My hubby has put the kids to bed.;

10 p.m.

I take my magnesium drink and get ready for bed myself.;

This has been a good day. One I got a lot of down time. Most days are not quite this easy. Or even close, actually. I am grateful to have people in my life who help me and allow me the extra time to take care of myself.;

I am still on a journey;of taking back my health and home. It’s a bumpy ride. Sometimes it feels like I’m taking two steps forward and one step back. And others, I’m taking three steps back!;

If you’d like to know more about my journey back to a healthy body and healthy home, you can learn more here.

What do you do when it;feels like you’re;taking two steps forward and one step back … or three steps back?

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. When you buy through our links, we earn a small commission, which helps to keep this site going so that we can continue to offer free and useful content, so thanks!