fbpx Top

Renee Swope

Encouraging and equipping moms to parent with God's grace and confidence.

Read An Excerpt: Chapter 1 & 2

Like a Box of Chocolates – Fridays GiveAway

Have you ever pictured what your week was going to look like but when you got to Friday you wondered what happened? That’s me this week. I had so many plans and projects. I’d even written a few blog posts – in my head. And somewhere in my posts, I was going to drop a hint or two about my Friday Give-Away!

Like Forest Gump explained so many years ago, life really is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.

This week, I didn’t get what I hoped for. I’m still trying to figure out what happened. I don’t know if I had too many things to do, or if I didn’t organize my time and my to-dos well. Although I got a lot done, I didn’t complete all I needed and wanted to accomplish.

Ever since summer ended and school started, I’ve felt like I’m trying to catch up and like it’s not going to happen any time soon. Honestly, I feel like my life’s chocolates are melting, and I’m not enjoying them as much as I’d like to.

It’s kind of ironic. Me needing help organizing my time and my life. You see, it fits perfectly with my Friday Give-Away, and I wasn’t even trying to drop hints. Today’s give-away is all about getting organized by making the most of the time and tasks God has given each of us!

**********************************************************************

I’d like to introduce you to my good friend, Karen Ehman, who is the author of “The Complete Guide to Getting and Staying Organized”. You will have a chance to win her book, a $10 gift card to buy some time-saving, life-organizing tools from Target and a box of chocolates in today’s give-away!
Karen recently shared with me why she wrote this book:

Even though organizing my “stuff” and managing my time came pretty naturally for me, I was completely thrown for a loop when I became a mom. It is one thing to get all your ducks in a row. It is quite another to keep them that way when you have a family. Just as soon as you line them up, along comes one of your kiddos (or your hubby!) knocking them all down again!

I wrote this book to walk alongside other women, helping them to understand their unique situation–their season of life, the stage of their kids, their personality type–all of those components that go into finding an organizing style that “fits” them. Then from there, I help them set the bar where they want it set.

Karen, what is unique about your book?

I don’t offer a one–size–fits–all method because I’m convinced we all view success in organizing differently. One gal may HATE a junk drawer with an assortment of items tossed in. Another thinks such a drawer is a staple of life. The second gal might really be driven nuts by dust, but not by clutter such as unfolded, clean laundry. On the other hand, her friend might not mind a thin layer of dust on her furniture but cannot stand having unfolded laundry in view. This book helps gals decide what organization looks like to them and then helps them to get there.

Also, being a women who manages her time well and organizes her home and office isn’t an end in itself. It has to be about something more. I like to teach women how to take care of the ‘have tos’ of life–the cleaning, menu planning, grocery shopping, laundry, errand-running and such, so they can actually get around to the ‘want tos’ of life—connecting with God, spending time with their husbands and kids, hanging out with that friend or pursuing that passion. This book helps them get there!

What will women gain from reading your book?

Again, the key to good organization is not a one–size–fits–all method. It is a unique plan that considers personality type, lifestyle, income level, and family schedule. I offer a simple step by step process to help women recognize their own personal style of managing their households successfully and develop a unique plan that gives them the freedom to:

  • manage their time wisely
  • de–clutter and organize their homes
  • plan menus, shop more efficiently, and become more comfortable and creative in the kitchen
  • get children involved in pursuing an ordered life and home
  • avoid the trap of over-commitment
  • use practical tools to assist in organization

Getting and staying organized means more time for the important things in family life—concentrating on cultivating a close, personal relationship with the Creator, drawing His word into every aspect of living, and ultimately tying their children’s heartstrings to God.

**********************************************

If you would like to win a copy of“The Complete Guide to Getting and Staying Organized”, a $10 Target gift card and a box of chocolates, today’s your day!

You can enter to win by clicking on the word “comments” below and let me know your biggest organizational challenge. I’ll share mine on Monday with some photos. I’ll also be back later to list some other give-aways and links below this post so you can visit and enter to win other Friday Give-aways over the weekend.

If you would like two chances to win, leave a comment and a link to any give-aways you know about that go through the weekend. I’ll be back Monday to announce my winner and share my biggest personal organizational challenge.

After you enter to win by leaving your name, email so I can reach you if you win, and your organizational challenge by clicking on the word “comments below, be sure to visit Karen’s blogwhere she’s also giving away a copy of her book as well as a $10 Target gift card and some dark chocolates!

Comments

  2. My biggest organizational challenge….??? Hmmm, I guess I'd say it's my pile of papers that just keeps piling up…..in my office, (even though I have 3, yes 3, filing cabinets!) and on my counter. Mail, important papers….it all piles up. I file it and then soon another one creeps up. Help! I can't stand clutter.

    Amy V.

  4. Clutter! I do not have adequate storage spaces. No attic. No basement. Few closets and a garage which is also my "laundry room."
    Living in a 1960's ranch home…
    I'm pretty good at organizing my thoughts but forget about my desk!
    [email protected]

  5. I know there's supposed to be a place for everything and everything in its place, but I don't have a place for everything! I'd love creative storage ideas!

  6. My challenge has always been paper. I have a filing system, but I leave piles everywhere. it starts with the mail, I sort over the trash can, and then I leave a big pile for my h
    husband to go thru. he travels sometimes for 10 days, so the pile can be large!! Help me, please!

    jbhescox at pacbell dot net

  7. Hi, sweet lady! I hope all is well with you. I'm still praying for you…

    Here's my comment in hopes that I can win the book:

    Oh, how I wish my life was organized! I'm past the children-at-home stage, and STILL my life is disorganized! It's just me and my husband, and I don't have a "regular" job, but my life is still a mess. How do I do it??! I certainly hope I win the book, because I can't afford to buy it (another area of organization challenges?). Thanks for the opportunity!

  8. My biggest challenge is managing paperwork………mail, bills, church bulletin, etc. It all piles up in my kitchen and I end up tucking things away in different places so my kitchen will "look" neat, but then I can't find an important paper when I need it! This has been a problem of mine for YEARS and I'm ready to find a solution!! [email protected]

  9. one challenge is keeping up…on the stuff you may use 'one day' so you toss it in a closet somewhere out of sight and before you know it, the doors are nearly coming off the hinges! Thanks for this opportunity!
    [email protected]

  10. My biggesst challenge is keeping up and keeping everything in place. I tend to put things away, but not necessarily in the best location for future use and my boys are the same way. Help!

    thegrossmans(at)carolina(dot)rr.com

  12. Hi Renee! Thanks for offering another fantastic giveaway! My biggest organizational challenge is quite simply myself. I get inspired to do something, get started then get busy on something else. Focus is a big issue! What it leads to is lots of unfinished projects – which then leads to frustration and feelings of not being good enough because I did not finish what I set out to accomplish. I am in luck because our daughter's 7th birthday is in 2 weeks & I must finish the photo journal project which has completely taken over our dining room! Again, thank you for always offering such great stuff!!

  13. Hi Renee! Thanks for offering another fantastic giveaway! My biggest organizational challenge is quite simply myself. I get inspired to do something, get started then get busy on something else. Focus is a big issue! What it leads to is lots of unfinished projects – which then leads to frustration and feelings of not being good enough because I did not finish what I set out to accomplish. I am in luck because our daughter's 7th birthday is in 2 weeks & I must finish the photo journal project which has completely taken over our dining room! Again, thank you for always offering such great stuff!!

  14. I SOOOO want this book! I have five children, age 7 and under, and I probably don't need to say that my biggest organizational challenge is our ENTIRE home! I want so badly to be able to teach my children organizational/housekeeping skills but I think I need to get it together first, before I can teach them. Thanks so much for a chance to win this giveaway…I'm sure my whole family would benefit:)
    [email protected]

  17. I am having trouble organizing my closet it is a mess. But the rest of the house is doing great. So maybe that is a hint that I need to donate a whole bunch of stuff!!!!
    Andrea
    [email protected]

  18. My desk. My closets are good, but my desk at home and my desk at work– I tend to just stack stuff or stuff papers in drawers. I need serious desk help– oh yeah and my computer. I have over 20,000 emails in my inbox never deleted and my documents are crazy unorganized.

  19. My hubby accumulates things to resell.He's doing s pretty good job keeping them in one room.I have always had cluttter an article on crosswalk !9 easy sateps to getting organized has helped me1 have a place for yourkeys2 have aplace for your purse 3makeyour bed first thing in the morning. I haven't got sll the steps under control but Ive made a consistent start.
    [email protected]

  21. I have a lot of organizational issues, but I think my biggest problem right now is with my little boys' bedrooms. The rooms are small and so are the closets. Keeping all their little toys and pieces of stuff organized is driving me insane! Help! 🙂 [email protected]

  24. I just returned home from having a garage sale with my daughter. We could a BOTH use some organizational help……..LOL

    Thanks for the chance
    Brenda Schiesser

  25. My biggest challenge is finding a place for everything so everything can be in its place. I am forever trying to figure out where things can logically go, but it seems to pile up faster than I can sort through it!

    Also, having a smaller budget (we are a one income family), I'm hesitant to spend my husband's hard earned money on the items than can help make a difference. [email protected]

  26. I have played supermom/woman for so long it's scary. And where I used to be able to multi-task pretty well, I have noticed the wheels falling off the cart a bit lately. I always overbook my time, and by multi-tasking, I can usually juggle many things, but I think I have now outbooked my ability to mult-task and juggle things. My biggest challenge is saying no, clearing my time in my schedule, and keeping it clear.
    I think I could really benefit from reading this book!

    Connie
    [email protected]

  27. Mine would be my bedside table or night stand! I never know which book, which devotional, which Bible, which magazine I "might" want to read in bed! And of course I have to have a notebook, pen, highlighter, lotion, chapstick, water…..and the list goes on! Yes I need organization! My other disaster area would be "closets". We have a love,hate relationships going on! Thank you Renee for all you do! Hugs!

  29. My closet. I work full-time out of the house – so it's all I can do to keep the "public" part of my house presentable for guests (which we have a lot of). So I never seem to have the time to really get to the part that no one but me and God and my husband ever sees…..sad.

  30. I used to be fairly organized, but when my sweet son came along, he had a rough, very sleepless first 5 months. The whole house went completely haywire in that time (from the office to the kitchen to the laundry room to our room), and I still haven't recovered! The only rooms that seem to stay fairly organized are his room (because he's not in it that much yet) and the living room right now. I definitely need help with that challenge.

    As for other giveaways, speaker and writer Stephanie Shott has an interview with Proverb 31 sister Rachel Olsen, and is giving away one of her books here (entries accepted until the 27th): http://www.stephanieshott.com/2010/09/interview-with-rachel-olsen.html

    Thanks for this opportunity, Renee!

  32. Somehow managing all those papers and events that come home from school with 3 kids. My kitchen countertop constantly looks like a tornado went through it. I honestly go through it EVERY night and toss/shred what's not needed. I just cant seem to keep up with it on top of working full time.

  33. I've got 2 personalities when it comes to neat and organized. At work, my desk is a model of organization – almost to the extreme. At home everything is piled everywhere and it drives my VERY neat husband crazy.

  34. I just now had time to read the whole post! My biggest challenge by far is paperwork and filing. I even have an office now… if I could only get it organized!!

  38. I needed this today, thank you. My week completely got away from me. An overload of projects with deadlines and then I got ill in the middle of it. This week the problem was too much to do in too little time, but my general issue is de-cluttering.

  39. Renee,

    Thanks for being so open and honest with you readers. It's so important for them to know that you struggle with life's everyday challenges too…just like we all do!

    I love you, sweet friend and wouldn't want to do ministry without you 🙂

    Love,
    Leah

    P.S. Are you buying some sugar free chocolates for yourself this weekend? I hear Russell Stovers are the best!

  41. Wow, where to start. I am trying to become better organized, but no one else in the family really cares. I have my older kids' stuff who are out on their own, and one college commuter who is living at home and a lovable messy, and a wonderful hubby who is overworked and exhausted. It's so hard finding time between work, chores, cooking, etc. Mail clutter, closet clutter, garage clutter, help!!!!!

  43. YES, PLEASE! My biggest organizational challenge (out of a list of big ones) starts with me resisting a morning routine. I hardly ever even get a shower (ssh) because it's not planned into my morning. We all get crabby and I see it stemming from my lack of ability to steer the ship of my household well. krista (at) cyburdine (dot) com.

  44. My biggest organizational challenge is the toys! I have a system and a plan, but my husband and boys only understand about half of it. I'm grateful that they at least try, but, oh, how I would love some additional resources!

  45. Probably my biggest organizational challenge is me. It is my inability to make a quick decision on anything. I will pick up an article of clothing and think, "I don't know if this fits anyone now. I'll have to have them try it on sometime." Then I set it down where it stays until the next thing gets laid on top of it. I do the same thing with mail, school papers, etc.

  46. Aside from my car, the "stuff" that always, always accumulates on our bar. Mail that needs attention, small toys to go back where they belong, bags and papers for school the next day… even when it gets cleaned off, it usually just gets moved to another location, usually our bedroom, which is another issue all together. This is all a tie with TOYS! I have got to get a method of organizing these that doesn't cost an arm and a leg! 🙂

  47. Sign me up for this awesome giveaway, please.

    My biggest challenge is our masters bedroom. Because I am one that likes to put on that mask of perfection I alway make sure the common areas of our house (den, kitchen, bathroom, etc) so it seems I never have the time to make it to the bedroom. We also very limited storage areas so trying to find a place for everything is an added challenge.

  48. I am challenged with clutter like magazines, books, yarn/knitting supplies, cards, stationery, music CDs, etc. It's hard for me to let go of things and stay organized. I have too much of everything, and I feel overwhelmed much of the time. I admire people who are organized, stream-lined, aren't emotionally attached to stuff and can let it go!! I could sure use this book! thank you!
    Kelly