Committing Our Ways

The oldest kiddo here on Barefoot Bluff is nicknamed Superman (for obvious reasons), and his superpower is checklists. That’s right - checklists. How he got this superpower we do not know, but as soon as he could write they started showing up.

He makes checklists for everything, but his favorite thing to list is chores he has to do to earn screen time. Those are some mighty long lists because we are not fans of screen time around here. That’s a blog for another day, but suffice to say he will do just about anything to earn even a few minutes on a smart phone, laptop or watching TV.

As he was making out a list today, he asked if I had any other chores he could add to his list, so I asked him to help me make a checklist for this blog. I also know the power of checklists. There’s just something about writing down your goals to make them real. Superman was thrilled to oblige so here you have it. In Superman’s very own penmanship, a checklist of priorities we believe will help us create what we call a Therapy Lifestyle, which for us is a therapy farm, here on Barefoot Bluff.

Here’s the same list but with my notes. These are the things you’ll see us trying to live out as you follow us on this journey. And hey, hold us to them. They’re goals and you’re our accountability team.

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1. Time Together - Priority #1. Kids spell LOVE, T-I-M-E

2. Exercise and Fresh Air - nothing better than playing outside, movement and lots of it, running barefoot (eventually…see previous blog), enjoying God's creation in all its wonder

3. Great Nutrition - eating the way our bodies were designed to consume food as much as possible. We're growing our garden and small orchard to provide much of that. We know for our kids, food is medicine

4. Consistency and Routines - it’s so important and so hard! Everything from discipline to bedtime, healthy eating to making time for fun, getting chores done, etc.

5. Animals and Nature - they can provide so much when seen as good gifts given by God for that purpose, and not to be worshiped in themselves. Animals that will soon be joining our dogs and cat: horses, alpacas, chickens, and who knows what else. We love them and for us they are therapy! Growing our garden and orchard to provide the fresh foods for #3, nature pathways for exploring, etc.

6. Brain Power - understanding, as best we can, the amazing brains God has designed and what they need for healing.

7. Everything and Everybody Has a Job - recognizing the innate need we all have to be contributors. That includes our animals and smallest children.

8. Creativity - the ability to create is another God given gift that brings joy, stress reduction, and healing.

For all their positives, checklists have a definite downside. They can be overwhelming. Notice all the ETCs on this list? There’s lots to do. Here’s another phrase we often repeat to keep ourselves from sinking into discouragement when the list is long and days are short - PROGRESS OVER PERFECTION! A little bit of progress everyday really adds up, and makes the doing less daunting.

So that’s our to-do checklist, or as we like to say, our will-do checklist. Simply good old fashioned goals. We’d encourage you to discover this super power too, but remember …. Progress over perfection.

Proverbs 16:3 “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.”