Erin Akin Carroll

In protecting the Sabbath (which has not always been something I strive to do, but I’m working on it now), I see it as a way of stopping to rest and thank God for what He has done in my life. To focus on the good and thank Him for those things. And to recognize that all of the good is because of Him, not because of me.

Choosing to create white space throughout the week is my way of stopping to let my family members and friends know that my relationship with them is more important to me than plans on the calendar.

Part of the reason that time seems to fly by so quickly is because we’re just rushing around and not doing what we can to make memories. And since the beginning of this 31 Days, I’ve tried to make an effort to make memories. Not by over-scheduling, but by being intentional. Doing new things. Playing new games. Enjoying each other’s company without too much noise.

Here’s a little Instagram dump with some of the really good from this past week.

This week, there was a whole lot of good. Todd was out of town this weekend on a much-needed golf trip.

The boys and I had the opportunity to spend an evening at a friend’s home with her kids.

While sitting and working at Whole Foods while the boys were in school, one of my very best friends walked up with her precious children and we had the unexpected opportunity to visit for about twenty minutes. It was a bright spot in my week.

Hudson, Hayes, and I didn’t turn on the TV at all on Saturday. We played Candyland, hide and seek, and danced around to “I would walk 500 miles, and I would walk 500 more.” We went to the park and played and ran.

A dear friend unexpectedly called to let us know he was coming in town for 24 hours. And because our calendar was clear, we were able to have supper and lunch with him and spend lots of time catching up, and he got to meet our kids!

Hudson and I watched Home Alone and I got so much satisfaction hearing his roaring laughter. So so pure and sweet.

I’ve been praying a lot about this series that God will help me complete it, but continue to give me words to share and things that He has laid on my heart about simplifying, creating margin, and resting in Him.

I hope you all have a great day of rest!

This is Day 13 in a series called 31 Days of Creating White Space. You can read the rest of the posts here.

I mentioned earlier in this series that sometimes creating white space takes a little bit of work. It isn’t just about going through and quitting everything and then calling it a day. Ta-da! White space!

We have responsibilities. We can’t just quit life.

But my need for white space is all about my family. Being able to give Hudson and Hayes more of my time, and not feel stressed over messes and schedules and clutter.

(If you’re new here, here’s a little catch up moment: We sold our house in October 2012 after 10 months on the market. We moved into Todd’s grandmother, and started building a house in April after searching for months for the right home.)

As we’ve planned our home and gone through the building process, the part of the house that I am most excited about is that we’ve created a place for everything while making the most of the square footage.

We don’t have an overabundance of rooms. There is not a craft room or a formal living room or even an actual mud room. But we’ve made a space for everything.

We wanted to maximize functionality with the least amount of space as we could. So we have a hallway just in from the garage. (We have a garage for the first time! A garage!)

Inside the back door is a laundry room. Just past the laundry room on this hallway is a small powder room, built-in cubbies and a built-in desk. This small 100 square foot space is my favorite thing about the new house.

these were my inspiration via here

We can come in from the garage and drop off book bags, purses, and shoes at the cubbies. Then I can drop off the mail and piles of paper that always steal my white space at the desk. I can always have my chargers in one location.

inspiration photo via here 

I hope that this will cut back on the time we spend looking for things and the constant feeling like the piles are running our lives. Do y’all know what I’m talking about? Those piles are just the worst!

Mail, kids’ “artwork,” reminders from teachers, church bulletins, magazines.

There are file cabinets and cubbies and cabinets and places for all the things that you don’t want to keep, but you can’t throw away. (Although I will touch on some plans for how to decide what I can throw away.)

But these things can be achieved without building a new house. What are some of your tips for managing the clutter? The things you can’t throw away.

And how do you decide what you can throw away?

This post is Day 11 in a series called 31 Days of Creating White Space. You  can read the rest of the posts here.