Busy Mom’s 4 Steps To Spiritual Balance With Crystal Paine

The 4-Step Process For How Busy Moms (Or Stay-At-Home Dads) Can Get Control Of Their Time

Pray

• Starting our day in a posture of prayer and reliance on the Lord instead of trying to white-knuckle our way through life in our strength changes how we approach life. We feel a lot less stressed and more at peace, and it helps us focus our energy on those things that truly matter in Eternity. 
• This can look like quick flare prayers we shoot up throughout the day when we feel overwhelmed, aren’t sure how to approach something, or just feel extra tired or weary.

Prioritize

• In the book, Crystal outlines what she calls the 6x2 Priority System. She has six Priority Areas around which she wraps her time and life, but she only picks two to focus on per day and then rotates the ones she focuses on. So, instead of trying to do all the things every day, she just intentionally spends time on two areas. 
• For instance, that might look like an at-home date with your spouse (Marriage Priority Area) and coffee with a friend (Friendships Priority Area). The next day, it might be spending extra time decluttering and catching up on tasks at home (Home Priority area) and having a game night with the kids (Kids Priority area).

Plan

• Crystal suggests writing down everything you need to do or remember (even tiny things) in a Google calendar as an all-day task and assigning it to a day by which it needs to be done. Then, every night before bed, write out a handwritten Time-Blocked To-Do List with everything mapped out for the next day. It’s like a budget but for your time. 

Prep

• A successful day begins the night before. One way to make your day run much more smoothly is to take 30 minutes before going to bed to pick up the house quickly, figure out what to do for breakfast, make lunches, get bags and backpacks ready and set out by the door and lay out everyone’s clothes for the morning. The difference this makes in our mornings and the rest of the day is incredible.

On Today’s Program, Rob Answers Listener Questions:

• I’ve been unemployed since February of this year and have been applying to numerous positions with various companies. All I’ve gotten is one in-person interview and a few phone interviews, but beyond that, there is nothing else. I want to find out what mistakes I’m making in this stage of the job search as I’m worried about my employability. 
• I’m a retired military serviceman who currently has TRICARE and doesn’t qualify for an HSA because of the type of insurance I have. Am I correct in that?
• I’m confused about tithing. I received an inheritance about 10 years ago, and before I deposited it into my account, I tithed the full amount. After that, I put the money in an annuity to give me an income stream when I retired. My question is, do I tithe on the income I receive, or has that already been tithed on?

Resources Mentioned:

• The Time-Saving Mom: How to Juggle a Lot, Enjoy Your Life, and Accomplish What Matters Most by Crystal Paine
• MoneySavingMom.com
• Career Direct
• Nail Your Next Job Interview: Faith & Finance Episode
• Rich Toward God: A Study on the Parable of the Rich Fool
• Find a Certified Kingdom Advisor (CKA)
• FaithFi App

Remember, you can call in to ask your questions most days at [phone]. Faith & Finance is also available on the Moody Radio Network and American Family Radio. Visit our website at FaithFi.com where you can join the FaithFi Community and give as we expand our outreach.