Slow living has become my lifestyle and has been a huge shift in how I approach my faith and just how I show up everyday.
Here are five ways that I embrace slow living:
1. Avoid rushing the mornings
I avoid rushing the mornings because the way we start our days are important. We start with one of us praying as we tend to alternate each day. If something is planned in, this of course needs to be considered but for the most part myself and my husband try to ensure we get time in to pray together and also do family worship. If we find that we don’t achieve this in the morning, we come back to it in the day but in the morning is so much more effective for us before the busy day begins.
I love how my husband leads our family worships as we discuss and reflect on God’s word and finish with a beautiful hymn. One of my absolute favourites which we sing very often is “His Robes For Mine” written by Chris Anderson.
We use the Getty hymnal book and sing to the hymns on Youtube. Hopefully one of us will be able to perfect the piano one day to make this even more special.
2. Praying over my daughters life
Taking the time to pray over my daughter’s life is something I also bring into my every day. Children are a heritage to the Lord and so this time of prayer helps me to reflect on that and pray into her life that she may grow to love the lord, that her heart posture will be soft. I love to do this when she wakes up in the morning which is often with a big wide smile. I often read the same bible verse to her each day. There are so many bible verses you can use to pray over your kids and it’s so important to do this, speak great things in the Lord over them. Death and life are in the power of the tongue so I intentionally want to speak life over her.
3. Eating Real Food
The more I’ve experienced life, the more I’ve realised the importance of preserving energy and eating foods that will help with this. Good nutrition is very important so I try mostly to avoid too much ultra processed foods. Some the things I enjoy include good quality meat turning into a beef stew, fresh fruit and vegetables and sourdough. I also enjoy having chia seed pudding for a refreshing snack and it’s good for my gut too.
4. Limiting Noise
There’s so much going on in the news and on social media etc.
A lot of it I find becomes more of a distraction so I limit the amount I consume because pouring mental energy into a lot of this can take me away from what is truly important such as stewarding my role as daughter of Christ, a wife and mother.
I’ve found that also not being on every streaming platform helps. I find naturally that I don’t watch a lot now and if I do it’s usually something I’ve watched before or things I enjoy on DVD. When I get the chance I’ll read a good book. I’m currently reading ‘The Mission of Motherhood’ by Sally Clarkson.
5. Finding Time to Rest
As I am writing this I am super exhausted like most days. Even with the tiredness, I do enjoy the season I’m in. It’s still a blessing which the book of Ecclesiastes has also helped me to understand and appreciate:
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens..” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
My rest in this season looks like a warm shower before bed when I can and switching off when my daughter does get some sleep. It’s also saying no to things that interrupt this time of rest. There are so many things like cleaning and laundry that will always be tasks that will need to be done. I don’t always have the energy to do them and so I try to schedule other times to do these things or at least in stages or my husband will do them when he’s able to.
The key thing I see in this season is how much grace is needed as I struggle at times with just achieving two things on my to do list. However the moment I surrender I find this all to be a bit easier on myself because God reminds me daily that motherhood is not a sprint it’s a marathon.
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