He walked in to find me curled up in the fetal position in our armchair—crying.

 

Through sobs I spoke of backache, children jumping on me, impossible fatigue, endless demands, and poop—lots and lots of poop.

Only I may have used a different word for poop.

I heard comedian Jim Gaffigan comment once on what it was like when he and his wife had their fourth child. He sad it was like you’re drowning—and then someone hands you a baby.

I’ve felt a little bit like that lately. Maybe you have too.

 

 

It doesn’t take four kids. It doesn’t even take three. Maybe you’ve just brought home your first little one, and you already feel like you’re gasping for breath, hardly staying afloat above the surface of the waves.

Motherhood is demanding.

It is impossibly difficult, everyday challenging, and tragically humbling—because it shows us our inability to handle it all—at least not with eloquence and poise.

Because really, who of us are managing this motherhood gig with Pinterest perfection?

 

At times we can all feel like we’ve switched gears into survival mode.

 

 

I challenged myself to read 20 books this year. Minimum. And not any 20 books, but 20 books that would challenge me as a follower of Christ, as a wife, as a mother, and as a writer—20 books that would challenge and inspire me to do life better.

And I could not have begun the year with a better book than this:

 

Say Goodbye to Survival Mode

by Crystal Paine (MoneySavingMom.com)

 

 

We all know that in this season of raising kids at home, the weather can change rapidly. 

It seems that in just a moment we can go from floating on a cruise ship while sipping a cold iced tea, to flailing beneath the waves of too much stuff, too many appointments, and too little time.

We all have those moments, those days, those weeks—even those years—when there is just too much to handle.

And we are unsure of how to best move forward—so we stay stuck.

Perhaps it’s not an overwhelming sense of “How do I handle it all?!” that keeps us stagnant. Maybe instead, you’re asking this question:

“How do I handle it all in the best way?”

 

Maybe we are afraid to move forward in life—to pursue that dream on our hearts—because we don’t know the best route, and we are afraid to take a wrong step. So we refuse to take any step.

 

 

Say Goodbye To Survival Mode is composed of both purposeful hope and practical application.

It helps you first to identify your passions, and what you believe you are called to, and then to use those passions to determine your best priorities in life–what you should focus on.

And then it guides you through how to set up goals and daily strategies to see those priorities nurtured.

 

Here are a few things this book helped me to discover:

 

• I don’t have to do it all
• I should not do it all
• How to identify what matters most in my life, and prioritize those things daily so that I live a life on purpose
• How to set realistic, attainable, and intentional goals
• How to strategically work towards meeting those goals every single day
• How to create and stick to a plan for managing my time, home, money, and meal planning
• And that for those days when you feel like a failure, or like you just can’t get ahead–there is grace for those days. Beautiful, life-changing grace.

This is so much more than a how-to book. It helped me look beyond strategy and methods, and to the motivation behind them–to what drives me; and what God has called me to.

 

 

There is no better time than now to pick up this book.

Perhaps you began this year with new resolve, resolutions, and virtuous goals. But now we’re two months in to the new year– and you’ve lost some gusto, and the waves are gaining power and threatening to overwhelm.

The grocery budget went over. The bathroom floor hasn’t been mopped in….well let’s not go there. The child caught a cold, and no one has slept through the night in days. Life with young ones at home is unpredictable and messy. Magnificently messy.

It’s a beautiful thing–and a very arduous thing; this mapping out of how to do life best while our kids are young and at home; how to manage it all with grace and beauty.

Now is the time to regroup; to refocus on what is really important, and pursue those things first. Now is the time to resurface above those waging waves and take a breath of fresh air. Let this book get you started. 

 

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Just a note:

I’m not getting compensated for this endorsement, or paid when you click this link. In fact, Crystal doesn’t either. All of her proceeds from the book are donated to Compassion International!

I just think that when a treasure like this is discovered–it needs to be shared. Order Crystal Paine’s book, Say Goodbye to Survival Mode, here