Mondays Always Start Fresh- Part 2

Using Reflection to Set Goals

I believe it's really important to know how to use the tool of Reflection to improve and set new goals.  You may already know I taught public school music and currently teach private music lessons.  Aside from teaching music specifically, I also have a passion for understanding pedagogy and instructional strategies.  These terms are similar and somewhat interchangeable, meaning "How to teach a particular subject?" and "What are the best ways or strategies to teach someone?"  I hope you'll forgive me if time-to-time I put on my "teacher hat" and get a little nerdy with you.  There are some great parallels we can draw to learn about ourselves as women and mothers.

When I was a classroom teacher, we did a book study and workshop on this strategy of Reflection (Classroom Instruction that Works, Marzano).  Reflection is the act of reflecting upon, thinking or considering something.  As I practiced this myself, I learned that teachers need to use reflection often to improve and be effective.

There are times when I found myself immediately forced to reflect about a particular situation.  How did that lesson go so poorly?  Why was that student so happy/sad/engaged/disinterested?  But usually I didn't have time to stop and think in the middle of my day, since I taught up to 5 classes in a row.  So the end of the day was usually the best time to sit, reflect, and begin preparing for the following day.  Deep breath and exhale.  The last bell has rung, students have left for the day and my room was quiet.  I LOVED my students, but teaching takes a lot of energy, and by the end of the day I was often exhausted.  Any parallels?

So, now it's the end of the day.  It's time to slow down and think, sometimes pen in hand.  (I've figured out that I'm a list-maker- It helps me to plan and remember things.)  So I would ask myself questions like, How did this particular lesson go?  Did my students understand what I was trying to convey?  What was the most difficult part for them?  What could I have done better?  I still do this constantly as a private music teacher.  My answers to these questions help me plan my next lesson or tweak a current lesson to make it more understandable.

I think sometimes it's good to schedule a specific time in advance to reflect, like Friday at the end of the week.  Those are times to ask the Big Picture questions.  How did this week go?  What are one or two things that I can focus on doing better next week?

I'm sure by now you're thinking, "Enough about your teaching examples, Taylor.  How in the world does this apply to my life as a woman, wife or mother?"

Stop for a moment and think with me how you can use Reflection in your life.

Reflection and evaluation is something we already do often, probably dozens of times each day.  Perhaps you decide to change something in your schedule today, based on yesterday.  Maybe you just snipped at your child impatiently and need to walk to the kitchen, take a deep breath, and think of how to start again.  Been there, not proud.  But I don't think the best reflection is going to be possible in the middle of the day, unless it's naptime.  Thank God for Nap Time!  Normally there are just too many distractions!  You will probably need to wait until evening when the kids are asleep.  Slow down, make yourself a cup of tea.  Grab your snuggly blanket.  Bring your journal, weekly planner, or family calendar.  Better yet, also bring your bible and specifically connect that time with your prayer life, asking God to help you daily.  Make a focused effort to slow down and think about your life.

Each one of us is different, beautiful and unique.  That's why I'm trying to not put too many labels or specific examples in this.  It's your life, and you will know best what things you need to consider.

But if you need some ideas, let me share some general questions to get you started:

• How did I treat my husband this week?  Was I kind, patient, encouraging?

• How was my interaction with my children this week?  With friends, extended family, or co-workers?

• Did I read my bible and spend enough time with the Lord?

• How was my housekeeping this week?  What is one area that I'd like to focus on improving next week?

I'm excited for you, and hope you are inspired and encouraged.

-Taylor

Watch for Part 3- "Setting Goals"

Mondays Always Start Fresh- Part 1

It’s Monday morning here.  If your life is anything like mine, sometimes the weekends end up more busy than restful, and this was one of those weekends.  It's often caused by a combination of family activities, church, my part-time Sat work, and wanting to spend time with my husband, since he's home all weekend.  This week my Mom was also visiting us from the Seattle area, and we had a great time together with the kiddos.

So while I have the memories of a great weekend, I got behind on my daily tasks.  I usually have a personal goal of finishing the dishes every night before I go to bed, but I failed at that yesterday, so I’m still trying to wrap up last night’s dishes. Yucky.

I've figured out that Monday can really set the tone for the entire week, either positively or negatively.  So how do we start out the week right?

This is the first of a series I'm going to call "Mondays always start fresh," based on a quote from one of my favorite literary characters, Anne Shirley, from Anne of Green Gables.  Anne says, "Tomorrow's always fresh, with no mistakes in it."  Hearing that as a young girl, I always thought those words were sweet and whimsical.  But now I understand how true it is.

I think it's so refreshing that we can always start over.  That encourages me, renews me.  It matters very little how many dishes were left in the sink last week.  Any mistakes we might have made as women, wives or mothers have already been made.  Last week is finished, and we no longer have any control over that outcome.  But we can make choices for our next week to come. 

Be encouraged: know that you can start fresh this week! 

Watch for Part 2- “Using Reflection to Set Goals”


-Taylor

Why did God create Seasons?

If you’re anything like me, in late August you eagerly anticipate the beginning of fall and the entire holiday season.  You can almost smell the eggnog lattes—my personal fave—and taste the pumpkin pie and Christmas cookies.  The first real sign of fall, the evenings are cooling down just a little.  Leaves change to orange, red and brown.  Well, in some places…

I currently live in Phoenix, where the temperature still hovers around 100 degrees, but I grew up in Washington State.  So, I’m really wishing for sweater season to begin!  In anticipation of fall, I’ve already put up my fall wreath.  I can at least pretend, I guess.

This week the question came to my mind, “Why did God choose to create seasons?”  He could have made the weather the same all-year round AND in every location of the world.  But He didn’t.  Why?

The first thing I considered was the idea of work.  The farmer plants in the Spring, cares for the crop through Summer, then harvests in the Fall.  The fields are cleared to rest during the colder season, Winter.  Then the process begins again.  That’s a lot of work, just to grow food. 

In the cooler seasons the leaves fall, the weather grows cold, and many things die or lie dormant.  Are seasons somehow tied to the fact that we live in a fallen world with sin?  That God told Adam and Eve they would have to toil and work the ground?  Is it symbolic of how everything and everyone will eventually die?  As Christ died to rise, so we will live again.  The promise of salvation and spending eternity in heaven with God gives us the hope of new and eternal life.

Genesis 1:14-16 Describes God creating the sun and moon, which cause the cycle of the year and seasons. 

¹⁴ And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, ¹⁵ and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶ God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night.

Psalms 104:19 says, ^“He made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down.”

Even though I’ve read Genesis 1, many times before, I’ve NEVER thought about the fact that God created seasons in the very beginning. 

Ecclesiastes 3:1-14 poetically describes that there is a Time for Everything:  See verses 1 and 2: 

¹There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: ² a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot.

If we consider our life, and the idea of being born, growing and dying, then seasons really are a shadow, a mirroring of what happens in our lives.  To take this analogy a step further, we could consider dying the end of our season.  Our children and grandchildren, literally the fruit from our seeds, are the next coming season.  My daughter is 4 months old, I have just recently enjoyed the joy of new life!

God also created seasons is because he is Creative!  Since He created us in His image, He made us to love and enjoy different things.  He wanted us to be able to experience beauty and variety, so provided this for us.  Think about how we react to the changing of the seasons.  Isn’t it funny how we are excited about the coming of Fall, of Winter, of Spring, AND the coming of Summer!  Usually near the end of each season we are good and ready for the next one!

Everything that God has created gives Him glory.  Think of God when you see the leaves changing and enjoy each new season.  Give Him the glory, and enjoy the coming of fall!

-Taylor