I’ve been trying to keep up with some of the bloggers who are taking the P31 Challenge this year, as well as reading your FB posts for those of you who are reading through the book or have just finished it.

What I’m finding is that as women, we sure do beat ourselves up a lot, don’t we? We talked a little bit about that at a women’s ministry planning retreat I sat in on at my church on Saturday – there was a whole list on an easel that showed the anxieties and insecurities and frustrations we experience on a daily basis if not sometimes all at once!

This was definitely a problem for me when I was going through my experiment, and I always chuckle (and cringe) a little when I read reviews from women and they mention it. Because they’re right – during that year, I questioned and second-guessed myself all over the place. The experiment could have been a whole lot happier I think if I had been able to approach it from a more positive frame of mind.

Psalm 86:15 says, “But You, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth.” If I want to emulate and follow God’s example, who I know from His Word is slow to anger, and rich in faithful love and truth, why am I not compassionate with myself? Why am I so quick to get angry with myself (and then in the process, often angry with others around me, namely my family?) Why do I give up so quickly with myself, and yet so often give others second and third chances?

So.. this week, I want our challenge to focus on what we’re doing right. It is REALLY easy to find everything we’re struggling with. But God has already blessed us with some great skills and talents and qualities as wives and moms, too! Your challenge this week is to focus on three qualities or talents you have as a wife or mom and come back here and share it with the rest of us.  No, you’re not bragging. No, you’re not being “proud”. You are in a tangible way, saying out loud to yourself, what God has equipped you with. Because sometimes we need to say it out loud. So we’ll remember. (And if you have trouble coming up with three yourself – don’t be shy, ask your husband, your kids, and if they’re no help, your friends!)

Then I want you to intentionally look for those qualities and talents as you go through your week. How do you use them now? How could you maybe use them in other areas too? Like, you may be super organized when it comes to your schedule but you still struggle with getting the laundry done. It may be more of a change in heart that’s needed than a change in time or better organizational skills. See what I mean?

So, share your three best qualities, and let’s focus on those this week. It’s going to be a great week, don’t you think?!

I realized after I posted our weekly challenge on Monday that because I was running out the door to avoid being late for Zumba, I completely forgot the second part of what I wanted to add for our challenge!

Once you’ve figured out which season you’re focusing on this year (maybe it’s growing closer to God as a wife and mom, being smarter with your priorities, getting better in the kitchen or with the housework), you need to make some goals on how you’re going to do that. Start small – the bigger the list, the less likely you’re going to accomplish what you’re setting out to do. (And you can always add to your list as you see your first few goals going well.)

One thing I’m doing since this is my season to focus on priorities is to work on not getting so upset when it feels like life is getting out of control or I question whether I’m doing what I’m supposed to. One of my devotions I read in Jesus Calling earlier this month offered the tip of saying “I trust you Jesus” any time you’re hit with that feeling of uncertainty. I’ve found it’s helped a lot to use this verbal statement to shut down my worrying ways. Because if my priorities are right, God will work all of it out. The point is to trust Him with all of it. And worrying and fretting doesn’t help my attitude, and that doesn’t help how I interact and treat my family.

So… think about your season and what steps you’re taking so you know you’ll be able to grow and see some wonderful changes by the end of it. I’d love to hear what you’re doing!

How’s your New Year going so far? While I don’t make New Year “resolutions” any more  - mainly because when I did “resolve” to do something, that “resolve” usually disappeared within a week of declaring it. True story – I once decided I was only going to drink water for an entire year – the next day I had a Coke in my hand – had COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN what I’d said the day before! So… I don’t do resolutions.

I do try to set some goals, though the older I get, the more I’m learning that less is more. Meaning: set less goals and you may have a shot of reaching them.

I think we can get too carried away with THE LIST sometimes. Whether it’s a New Year’s resolution list, a goal list, or just a to-do list (I am so guilty of this), we include everything but the kitchen sink and then wonder why we feel so overwhelmed.

I felt this way about the Proverbs 31 wife for a long time too – you look at that passage of scripture, and that long list of things she does, and does so well – and you wonder: how will I ever measure up?

Well, one thing I read from a couple of different scholars about the Proverbs 31 wife is that one theory about her life, and this passage of scripture, is that this LIST was not a 24-hour one… but rather a record of seasons of her life. These were things she did over a lifetime… and not in one day’s time.

Now, when I talk about seasons, I’m not talking about spring, summer, winter or fall, but rather the seasons of our lives. That season when we’re first married and getting to know our husbands, the season of maybe starting a career or starting a family or both, or that season when the kids are off to school and you finally can focus on going back to school yourself. Sometimes the seasons are emotional ones – when great stress or crisis has hit us hard. Whatever the season, God can use them to teach us and mold us into the women He wants us to be.

There are teachable seasons too, and that’s what I want us to work on this week. Sometimes God wants us to focus on our families, or on our marriages, or on ourselves. This doesn’t mean if I feel He wants me to work on my relationship with Him that I’m supposed to be in Bible study 8 hours a day and neglect my family and my husband. But it does mean I try to make some special time and effort for that teachable season He’s put me in.

So… your P31 Challenge this week is to Choose Your Season. What, as a wife and perhaps a mom, is the teachable season God wants you to focus on this year? Is it cooking better meals and learning new and fun ways to enjoy the kitchen more? Is it staying more organized and focusing on a schedule so everyone knows where they have to be when? Is it making more time for Bible reading and prayer (and we should all be doing that every day, but for some of us, there is a special season where God wants to teach us and help us develop a strong habit in spending time with Him).

One thing I learned from the P31 Experiment was that I didn’t have to try and learn and do everything at once. The biggest thing I had to work on first was my attitude. This past year I really started focusing on cooking – and I’m getting better! This year I’m focusing on PRIORITY – I don’t really like the word “balance”  because balance implies everything is put in the same size buckets – but not everything deserves the same amount of attention so I use the word priority, and what I mean by that is I want to make sure  I’m giving the right amount of time to the right priorities. So I don’t get all hung up on my work and neglect my family, but at the same time, I don’t abandon important things in my ministry I know God has brought to me to work on.

OK… so… what’s your Teaching Season this year? (By the way, this is different than your Word for the Year, if you do that as well. My word this year, by the way, is Courage. Need a lot of it, and I’m trusting God for it!)

Can’t wait to hear about what you’re going to focus on for your season this year!