Thrive in the Fullness

I just finished doing a Brain Dump. It’s early September and fall is one of our fullest seasons. Soccer and football and birthdays and travel and harvest. It’s like the wind that picks up a pile of leaves, swirls them around in a cyclone for a few seconds, and then suddenly stops as the leaves fall to the ground in a heap. That is our life September to November. We are a flurry of activity, rustling and swirling around, and then things suddenly stop and get quiet again before the holidays. While this fall season has a lot more leaves in the air, it’s still good. Instead of wishing for things to get quiet, I want to be present in the present. I know I won’t be perfect at this, because, well, I like quiet. But this fall I want to Thrive in the Fullness. I want to appreciate, enjoy, and thrive the next few months. Because if I am thriving in the fullness, there is a good chance my people are, too.

I pray these words and practical ideas will help someone somewhere, but I also hope they help me. Sometimes writing down my heart, my hopes and dreams and intentions is the single thing needed to put them into action. Dear reader, I hope these words will help you thrive and I hope they help me thrive, too.

Thrive in the Fullness

Make time for joy.

I’m starting here because it’s how I start everyday and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it saves my sanity most days. Make time in the fullness, the chaos, the crazy for joy. For me, joy is walking and chatting with Jesus in the early morning hours. It’s watching the sun rise in the quiet of our farm. The other day I said to Kevin: It might make sense for me to start foregoing my walks in the morning to get a few things done. He stopped me immediately and said: No. He knows how important walks are to me. I’m so glad I make time for joy and my husband supports it.

Take a few minutes to think about what brings you joy. What makes you feel like a person? What fills you up and makes you smile? Maybe you’re like me and a walk brings you joy. Or maybe it’s a long bath or listening to some music or a podcast. It could be working out or chatting with your mom or snuggling with one of your babes before bed. Whatever it is, make time for it. Joy can take a backseat in the middle of a full season. I would argue full seasons are when we need joy the most, so let’s make time for it.

Do a Brain Dump.

Getting super practical here. Brain dumps save me in full seasons. When I’m feeling overwhelmed, a brain dump will save my sanity and a whole lot of tears. For me, putting pen to paper works best so I use a notebook to write down everything in my brain. I pray the list doesn’t fill the page, but usually it does and that’s okay. Beginning with the three most important things, I work through the list. I might get through my list of to-dos in a week, but usually it’s more like two or three weeks.

Grab a sheet of paper or your notes app and set a timer for 5 minutes. Get everything in your brain written down or typed out. Take some deep breaths when you’re done and then slowly work through the list. This is a productivity strategy I use time and time again.

Meal Plan.

Even in a full season, our people need to eat. I never regret taking a few minutes to meal plan. In full seasons our family eats a lot of the same things. Tacos, BLTs, Burgers and sweet potatoes, Pork Carnitas, Korean beef and broccoli, Roast with potatoes and carrots. In late August I made a list of 10 meals we will eat the next few months. Most of our dinners will come from that list. Each week I plug those meals into my weekly meal plan. Friday nights are snack trays and Sunday night is usually pizza. There will come a time this winter when I’m able to spend a little more time on meals, but the next few months it needs to be simple.

Make a list of 10-15 meals you know your family will eat and are simple for you to put together. Each week plug those meals into your meal plan and order the ingredients needed to make the dishes. Do yourself a favor and take one thing off your plate with a meal plan.

Communicate with your people.

Effective communication is the best way to solve problems. -Brandford Winters

When I look back on the past fifteen years of marriage and (almost) ten years of motherhood, I think many of our family’s hiccups could be solved with a little more communication. In a full season, sometimes we are too tired to communicate. We get home late, dinner needs served, little humans need bathed, and we don’t communicate. Because we’re tired and there are other things needing tending. However, communicating with our people is one of the things needing tending, too. Kevin and I have a Sunday afternoon meeting to communicate things about the coming week. Practices, work schedules, errands, etc. It’s how we don’t fall deep underwater in the full seasons. It takes about 10 minutes and is worth every second.

How do you communicate with your people during full seasons? Do you need to implement a time each week to sit down and get on the same page? Make time for communication.

Grace.

Full seasons require lots of grace. Grace for ourselves and our kids and our spouses. We can’t be all the things for all the people and do all the things all the time. During this fall season, I know our house won’t be as picked up or as clean as I like it. The garden and yard might go untended. Water bottles might pile up in the car. But, grace. It won’t always be like this and being present with my humans is more important than a perfectly tidied home.

What do you need to give yourself grace for? What about your kids and your spouse? Let the unimportant go, knowing you can always come back to it when things slow down.

Maybe fall isn’t full for you. Whatever season you’re in right now, whether slow or full, think through how you can enjoy and appreciate it. My prayer is you will thrive in the fullness this fall.