Make Today Matter Mini Makeover Catalog

Mini Makeover #40

Nine out of ten American’s drink some sort of caffeinated beverage each day, making it the United States’ number one “drug.” Recent research showed a direct correlation between rising caffeine consumption and the need for both prescribed and over-the-counter sleep aids

Just because the majority of us use caffeine doesn’t change its effect on the brain, central nervous system, and our energy level. In a nutshell, caffeine is manipulating the same channels in the brain as amphetamines and cocaine-but on a much milder basis. Understanding caffeine’s influence on stress, sleep, anxiety, mood, and energy is important. Especially since sleep and stress are directly correlated with many long-term health ailments and emotional health. If you consume caffeine and also suffer from anxiety or stress, depression or mood swings, or fatigue you might be surprised at caffeine’s influence.

In this Mini you’ll learn how caffeine affect mind and body, how to tell if you are addicted, what the “safe levels” of caffeine are, when to avoid caffeine to maximize energy and emotional health and how to create a realistic plan to curb or cut caffeine from your life.

Mini #039

Okay… so we might all agree that the Bible makes a great guide for living and that God’s word and the examples of Jesus are timeless principles that offer a ray of light to all who strive to follow these footsteps.

Yet how do we bring these words alive in our own life? How do we go from reading God’s Word to LIVING God’s word? What can we learn from the teaching of Jesus that can guide us day-in an day-out as we face conflict, stress, difficult choices or confused emotions?

In this Faith Mattes Study we will read through timeless wisdom of the Bible and work to live by example by incorporating this wisdom into our own life. Includes reflections and challenges for practicing each nugget of wisdom in your daily life.

Living by Example: Guidance for Living God’s Word
28 pages

Okay… so we might all agree that the Bible makes a great guide for living and that God’s word and the examples of Jesus are timeless principles that offer a ray of light to all who strive to follow these footsteps.

Yet how do we bring these words alive in our own life? How do we go from reading God’s Word to LIVING God’s word? What can we learn from the teaching of Jesus that can guide us day-in an day-out as we face conflict, stress, difficult choices or confused emotions?

In this Faith Mattes Study we will read through timeless wisdom of the Bible and work to live by example by incorporating this wisdom into our own life.  Includes reflections and challenges for practicing these nugget of wisdom in your daily life.

This study is divided into 21 daily doses of devotion. Topics of exploration include:

• Selflessness
• Memory Verses
• Putting Others First
• Communication & Conflict
• Watching Your Words
• Advice on Daily Living
• Living in Faith
• Seeking Wisdom
• Actions and Preparations
• Navigating Life
• From Confusion to Clarity
• The Garden or Life
• Guidelines for Living and Loving
• Opinions
• Following Christ

  Bonuses:
  Special God’s Guidance Printable
  2 Key Verse Cards

Mini Makeover #038
Includes a 7-Day Anti Stress Calendar

When we are stressed it is often because we something is pressing, or we are overwhelmed with to-dos and projects, or a relationship needs time we can’t find. When pressure reaches its peak, we carve out time to handle a particular stressor. Any guesses on where we most often carve that time out from?

We tend to pick up the needed time by neglecting healthy habits. While this might seem a solution in the short-term, it is actually a catch-22. By skipping healthy habits, we reduce our physical and emotional energy making it harder to cope with the stressful situation. So what’s a gal to do? While eliminating all stress would be ideal, it isn’t a realistic solution. Since we can’t eliminate it, we need to learn to manage it. Proactively minimizing stress and increasing our coping abilities can drastically reduce the impact of stress on our lives.

Studies have linked stress to headaches, heart disease, intensifying existing asthma, gastrointestinal problems, fatigue, and chronic pain.

In this Mini we begin with a quick stress-test to check your current stress-level. Then we uncover your stress-triggers and sources so you can work to stop stress before it starts. A 7-Day Anti-Stress calendar will give you simple activities to do each day to help eliminate stress and create contentment.

Mini Makeover #037
Includes a master task list template for bedroom and bath

In the Make Today Matter Toolbox we learned how to use the Housework Helpers Worksheet to divide routine maintenance tasks into small components that could be realistically completed. The Master-Task-List series works step-by-step through making a Master Task List for a specific area of the home together.

For each room we explore you will receive a template of tasks to consider including on your routines list. There will be plenty of prompts to share cleaning tips, questions, and your own list items. By working through this process together, and focusing on one room at a time, we can ensure we have a comprehensive and complete list by the end of the Mini.

Mini Makeover #36

Clutter, whether emotional or physical, is the number one robber of simplicity. Clutter robs peace and leaves anxiety and maintenance in its wake. In this Mini-Makeover we work through five exercises and activities to understand why we collect clutter, the true cost of clutter (on both our time and our wallet), and accomplish the simplification goal Hans Hoffman offered: “To simply means to eliminate the unnecessary so the necessary can speak.”

Mini #033
6 pages
Includes Kitchen Master Task Worksheet

In the Make Today Matter Toolbox we learned how to use the Housework Helpers Worksheet to divide routine maintenance tasks into small components that could be realistically completed. This Mini is the first of several in the Master-Task-List series where we will walk through making a Master Task List for a specific area of the home together.

For each room we explore you will receive a template of tasks to consider including on your routines list. There will be plenty of prompts to share cleaning tips, questions, and your own list items. By working through this process together, and focusing on one room at a time, we can ensure we have a comprehensive and complete list by the end of the Mini.

Mini #034

A Path of Purpose
18 pages

Welch poet David Whyte wrote: “I don’t want to have written on my tombstone, when finally people struggle through the weeds, pull back the moss, and read the inscription there: ‘He made his car payments.’” While humor is found in Whyte’s quote, great truth is also revealed. My guess is he struggled with the questions that loom over so many of us:

In this Faith Matters study we will explore similar struggled faced throughout the Bible and the wisdom God’s Word can shed on purpose.

• Includes 18 days of study

• Includes one wallet-sized Faith Card

• Includes regular sized Faith Card

Between the many demands on our time, the opinions and influence of those around us, and the choices available in today’s word it can be challenging to discover our purpose. Yet living “on purpose” is a key ingredient of a balance and meaningful life. In this study we explore women of the Bible and God’s Word to help us ask and answer the questions to lead us toward purposeful living.

* In June Brook will lead an online discussion on the last Sunday of the month at 4:00 PM CST.

This study includes 15 daily doses of study.

About Faith Matters: Each study includes….

• Look-Ups (a.ka. Write it Down): Each study contains scripture references around the monthly theme. Look these up in the Bible you are most comfortable with and write them in the provided space.
  Reflection Questions: Work through these thoughtfully. Space is provided in the study guide or you can use the private online journal.
• Activities: Follow the instructions for the outlined Activities. You may wish to keep a special journal for these Activities.
• Key Verses: Build a deck of cards to celebrate key verses that speak to you. Each week add one verse to your deck. You can write it on a colored index card, design it on a computer, or decorate a card by hand.
• Discussion Topics: Discussion topics are highlighted throughout the study . Login to the study area and you will see a thread started for each of these.
• One or two key verse cards created by Brook Noel
• Access to the general Faith Matters area where you can share favorite scripture, your own key verse cards, prayers and more.

Any relationship can be challenging to maintain in today’s busy life. Ask a woman how many close friends she has and most women can easily count them on one hand. Why? A close relationship requires a resource in tight supply for many-time. The purpose of the Faith Matters Mini is to provide a way to study what the Bible says on a specific topic and provide a simple way to stay present with our faith.

A few important notes about Faith Matters Minis:
1. Everyone is welcome, regardless of religious affiliation or current beliefs. If you have never picked up a Bible, aren’t sure what you believe, or even if you are angry at God, you are welcome here.

2. These are explorations not “rules” At no point will I say (or can anyone else say) “You should …”

3. Respect for everyone is mandatory, this is not an area to debate God’s Word, but to live it.

4. Scripture references are taken from both the Old and New Testaments

5. All topics explored are POSITIVE. I have talked with many women who have left their spiritual practice because it was driven by guilt, negativity, and punishment. The Bible is so filled with positive inspiration and examples and these are my focus.

Mini Makeover #035
12 pages

Many people believe that procrastination is a result of poor planning or poor time management. Other people believe it is a lack of organizational skills. Some believe that people who procrastinate lack focus, ability or willpower. All of these beliefs are false.

Each of the above beliefs deals with the “external” – how procrastination “appears” on the surface, but none of these beliefs deal with the source or root cause of procrastination. The good news is that we are not born a procrastinator—we become one. And anything we learn, we can unlearn. Uncovering your Procrastination Personality is the first step in that process.

In this Mini Makeover you’ll complete a 50 question quiz to determine what procrastination personalities are present in your life. Then you will learn strategies to work with these personalities instead of against them and write a prescription for procrastination.

Mini Number #32
11 pages

Includes:
•    5  activities with journaling space
•    Printable wallet affirmation card
•    Printable 3 x 5 Kindness Card

 If there were in the world today any large number of people who desired their own happiness more than they desired the unhappiness of others, we could have a paradise in a few years.  ~Bertrand Russell

So often people get caught up in their to-do lists or become so busy they forget the things that are important in life… connecting with other people.  With all the committees we belong on, the volunteering we do at school for our kids, etc…. it would seem we were “connected” with others. However, when we are being pulled in different directions, it is easy to not think about others and our connections to them.

The activities shared in this mini are a part of a “Happiness Toolbox” I developed for myself to use during those moments I felt the need to reconnect.  Based on the latest scientific findings on what brings happiness to our lives, we will explore five practices enabling us to connect with others in our journey to recapturing daily magic.

This Mini Makeover is divided into five separate activities. On the main page for this Mini you will find journal space for each activity. I encourage you to record the steps you take. Going forward you will know which steps most dramatically create an attitude shift for you. You will also find a forum for discussing each of the activities.

1.    Put People at the Center
2.    No Comparisons
3.    The Rat Race
4.    Forgiveness
5.    Giving Back

Note:  Mini #15 focuses on activities enabling us to look within ourselves to recapture daily magic.  Mini #32 focuses on activities that allow us to connect with others as we recapture daily magic.  Both minis are independent of each other. It is not necessary to one before you take the other. However, if you enjoy this Mini-Makeover, you may want to consider adding the other to your mini collection. Combined you will have 10 activities to explore.