SHE PLANS WELL
FEBRUARY 2022
STEEPED MAGAZINE
INTRO A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9
02
February 2022
TABLE OF CONTENTS Are you choosing the important part? 04
If you are seeking a deeper level of intimacy with God, choose well
Tired of the Overwhelm? 07
Practical strategies to gain clarity and prioritize what matters
Homeschool 09
Thinking about homeschooling? We've got some resources for you.
Fresh Starts 11
There's something powerful about the timing of setting goals
Train Like David 14
This year make a plan to get fit....and then stick to it.
Plan for Rest 17
This year make a plan to get fit....and then stick to it.
YOU CROWN THE YEAR WITH YOUR GOODNESS, AND YOUR PATHS DRIP WITH ABUNDANCE PSALM 65:11
February 2022
04
ARE YOU CHOOSING THE IMPORTANT PART? 38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. Luke 10:38-41
For the past week, I haven’t spent time reading the Word. I love that my Goodness Planner reminds me to start the day in fellowship with God through worship, Bible reading and prayer. But if I am being honest and transparent, I haven’t made the time to do any of those things, and it shows.
So today, I finally managed to be disciplined enough to continue my personal Bible reading plan, and funny enough I was directed to the story of the two sisters, Mary and Martha. God is awesome!
February 2022
Upon reading it, one phrase stood out to me. After Martha complains to Jesus, He answers and says that Mary has chosen the good part, “which will not be taken away from her.”
05 THEN God will supernaturally line up everything else for you. Righteousness + discipline (seeking first) = everything else (supernaturally supplied)
His phrasing made me stop and think of all the things that can be taken away from us (jobs, houses, cars, etc) especially with this whirlwind of a year we had in 2020.
What I hear God say to me here, is that when we do our part - worship Him - He will provide everything else...supernaturally.
Like Martha I had been busy. Busy doing things I thought were important, like organizing the upcoming curriculum for my homeschool boys. But here, Jesus is clearly telling me that I am continuously choosing the wrong thing.
Now, I am not privy to how God will choose to show up supernaturally in your life, but He is creative! Ravens fed Elijah while he was hiding from Jezebel, water came out of rocks for Moses, and five fish and two loaves of bread fed thousands.
I am recognizing the deep wisdom Jesus is sharing here, which ties into one of our anchor verses, Matthew 6:33: “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and everything else shall be added unto you.”
Remember, we serve a God who moves and can make roads in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43:19) Nothing is impossible for Him!
This scripture is a gateway to the supernatural, a key to opening invisible doors. We are being given the secret to next level living, which is basically an equation of spiritual math The equation is this:: If you are righteous AND you are disciplined in seeking FIRST the kingdom of God
If you are seeking a deeper level of intimacy with God, I hope that 2022 will be a year filled with you experiencing and understanding the deep mysteries of God. A year full of Him showing up supernaturally on your behalf. Reflection... What can you shift in your life to make sure you’re choosing the important part in 2022?
February 2022
LIVE WITH PURPOSE
06
07
February 2022
TIRED OF THE
OVERWHELM? One of the smartest “work smarter, not harder” strategies you can employ is to prioritize Jesus. When you do this, the God who knows all your needs will supply you with a workable system to get things done. Often times I feel that we don’t prioritize time with Jesus, because we don’t fully trust Him. We don’t take Him at His word that He will indeed supply all of our needs.
‘work smarter, not harder.’ My mama said many meaningful things to me over my lifetime, one of the most recent centers on work and effort. We were in the kitchen cooking dinner and I had just made a decision to downgrade my complicated meal choice for an easier option and she encouraged me by saying, “make life easy for yourself.” Whenever I find myself overwhelmed by my massive todo list I come back to her words, and her message which boils down to this: ‘work smarter, not harder.’
I’m calling Steeped a challenge because I want to encourage you to try Him. To test Him. To try life the Matthew 6:33 way and see how big God shows up in your life! Gary Keller’s book, The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results has transformed the way I see a lot of things. He would call his team weekly, and at the end of his phone calls, he would recap their conversation and summarize their to-do lists. When he found that this wasn’t working, and they were not meeting their set goals, he changed his approach and whittled down the list to three to-do items in the upcoming week, that didn’t work either!
08
Out of frustration he randomly asked, “what’s the one thing you can do this week such that by doing it everything else would be easier or unnecessary?” And what do you know, this worked! Narrowing down the list to one thing was the sweet spot. The one thing that Christian women can do is get steeped each and every day. Spending time with the Lord will result in clarity, a reduction in anxiousness, and a tailored road map to reach your daily destination. So, I am asking you to do the crazy thing. The Mary thing. Ignore the fact that you haven’t done laundry in 2 weeks and that you don’t have any more clean spoons in the house. I’m asking you to ignore all of that and go to the feet of Jesus before you do anything else each morning. May His word be a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path. Grab the 90-Day Challenge ebook by clicking the link below.
09
February 2022
HOMESCHOOL WE BELIEVE THAT HOMESCHOOLING CAN BE A JOY AND WE ARE ON A MISSION TO HELP YOU ACHIEVE THAT.
Foundations
#01 With this workbook, you will transform your homeschool, not through buying brand new curricula, but through walking you through foundational tools that work synergistically to help you teach your children without self-doubt, overwhelm or anxiety.
Homeschool Planner #02 As a homeschooling mom of five, I've tried homeschooling several different ways and finally found rest in a simple, streamlined system that is focused on 3 things: outcomes, assessment, and content. This homeschool planner will provide you with everything you need to organize your homeschool and teach your students successfully.
Proverbs 31:25 Strength and honor are her clothing; She shall rejoice in time to come.
11
February 2022
THE POWER OF FRESH
STARTS The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord Shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing, To declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. Psalm 92:12-15 Last year I heard Katy Milkman on a podcast discuss the power of fresh starts and it was eye-opening. She and her research colleagues conducted some amazing research on the reason why motivation is high at the beginning of things. The beginning of a new year, the beginning of a new month, the beginning of a new week.
What they discovered was that for aspirational behaviors like getting into shape, saving money, or quitting smoking, there is often a great deal of procrastination that prevents people from making progress.
12
February 2022
But, interestingly enough, we are naturally wired to strive to implement positive changes in our lives either at the beginning of something new, say for example a milestone birthday, or immediately afterwards. These landmark times in our lives have a way of fueling motivation. Naturally. That’s just how God made us. It’s as if the slate has been wiped clean on past failures and shortcomings and we can have a fresh start. Sure it’s been said over and over that new year's resolutions often fail within a short time. But If we are naturally more inclined to be motivated at the beginning of something, then why not work with how God made us and at the very least use this natural motivation to get started. After we start there are a lot of productivity resources that we can tap into to keep us going in a positive direction. Here are the ones we’re leaning into this year: Get Things Done - We love the focus on getting the things that stress you out of your head through capturing them into a system, even if it’s the notes app on your phone. > Grab it here: https://amzn.to/3Hiypnd
The One Thing - This book is great at helping you distill the most important driver for success on any goal. Grab it here: https://amzn.to/34pHVpQ Eat That Frog - This book is all about helping you fight the temptation to avoid doing your one thing. Grab it here: https://amzn.to/3saXZnG So go ahead, use the beginning of the month to refresh some goals, or write out some new ones. This could be the year that you read all the way through the Bible. This could be the year that you train for a half-marathon. This could be the year you drop 25 pounds. The year you start your mornings with the Word of God This could be your year. When you're done setting goals, grab these book recommendations so that you can successfully move from fresh start motivation into implementation.
February 2022
13
ISAIAH 43:19 NKJV Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.
14
February 2022
TRAIN LIKE DAVID AND HIS MEN What does that mean? To train like David is to get into the best physical shape that you can. Why does this matter? It’s not just for aesthetics. It’s because it will help you weather the health storms that we are in. Being in good health is key.
make a plan to get fit...and stick to it. Our June 2021 issue of Steeped Magazine was called “Train Like David” (you can still download it for free HERE). This year we are doubling down on that message. Train. Like. David.
Why David? We often extol King David for being a man who knew how to seek the face of God through worship and praise. A man whose psalms we quote continually. But David was also a man who was physically fit for war. And war takes preparation. David stayed ready. And his men stayed ready too. Picture for a moment the kind of training one must do if King Saul and his army is hunting you night and day? Picture the kind of training you must do if the goal is to stay alive. If you’re literally running for your life.
15
February 2022
What does that look like? Crossfit? HIIT? Running? Weight training? Does it look like full pushups? While we may not know the exact answer here, there’s one thing that we can probably all agree on. The kind of training that David and his men went through probably included sweat. A whole lot of it. So our encouragement to you this year is to not just squeeze in workouts when you can, but to make a real plan to workout, and to stick to it. We encourage you to build muscle. To drop the excess weight. To condition. To train. To train like David. Train like David’s men. This year let's all comitt to writing out a solid plan to get fit. And then let's stick to it.
SHOP
REST IS GOD'S GIFT TO YOU. AND A WELLRESTED YOU IS THEGIFT YOU GIVE TO OTHERS
PLAN FOR REST The other morning I saw a glimpse of sun through the window. For a while I just sat there basking in the warmth of sun’s rays and studying my feelings. I slept well so I felt rested, and there was a lightness in my heart and an eagerness in my spirit to just open up the word, but I didn’t. Not yet. I sat there for quite a while longer because I was captivated by this thought: Rest is spiritual.
When we move through our days at the speed of lightning, pushing to meet deadlines, putting out fires on the job and in our homes, we are unable to truly seek God.
And I get it life can be busy and chaotic, but this is what I leaned into that morning. When we are constantly praying for breakthroughs, telling God all the things we need, hunting through scripture for the miracle word that can break every chain…it’s hard to find the heart of God. Of course, we can still partake in our Father’s things, we can still eat at His table, but His heart? That’s only found in rest.
It's like the teen who isn’t so enthused with spending time with his parents. There’s still a roof over his head and food on the table. Provision is still there, but there’s a special kind of love transfusion that only happens when you lean in for a hug And what kind of spirit leans in for a hug? A well-rested one. .
God wants you to have all the things but He also wants to spend time with you. He wants you to have His love. So this year we meditate on the word rest a bit more, and ask yourself how you might be able to incorporate rest into your daily life.
Our favorite way to keep rest top of mind is by using the Goodness Planner, a Christian planner that features a daily “rest” box to help nurture restful practices in your everyday life. We're excited to share our undated planner collection with you, available on February 14, 2022