Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Meet Rachel Stafford, the Hands Free Mama!

Yesterday, we had the awesome privilege of hearing from Rachel Stafford of the Hands Free Mama movement!  Just 18 months ago, while running,  Rachel had a breakthrough moment with God and realized that she was "doing it all"but it was costing her everything. Too many "good" things were coming her way and she had no time left to pursue the things that really mattered.  She had spread herself so thin and knew she was missing out on so much.  She cried out to God for help and He said to her, "if you let go of the distractions of life, I will let you experience joy, peace, and connection with me and with others every day. "  She listened to God and her life has never been the same.


She has started a revolution and after hearing her speak yesterday, I consider myself to be President of her fan club!!! Her passion is to help women take back their lives by letting go of the modern day distractions to focus on what really matters.  She challenged us to spend more time with God so that we can learn about ourselves and our purpose for being on the planet.  There are so many large (but good) distractions in life, such as volunteering in your church, your school and your community.  When asked to do a job, pray about it. See if you were specifically made to do that job, or is it for someone else? Don't be afraid to say "no." If you say "no",  the person asking will simply move to the next person on the list!  If you don't protect your time, who will?  Rachel asked us to answer this question for ourselves : " What must I do in my lifetime before I die? " Smart girl, she is. She is viewing the end from the beginning with her eyes on the prize.  Her answer to the question is to be a present mom and to use her God-given gifts to help people.

What is a present mom?  A present mom is a "hands free" mom. Put down the cell phone, put down the tv remote, close the laptop and make eye contact with your children and your spouse!  Be free of the compulsion to check all of your devices and updates! Turn off the notifications! Rachel speaks in elementary schools and it broke our hearts yesterday when she shared the stories of young children who felt so neglected because their parents preferred technology over them!!  Put away your "to-do" list, get on some old clothes, go outside with your children and play!  Think of your death bed.  Do you want your children to remember you as a good tweeter or facebooker or as a mom who shared her time and her life with you?

I apologize here if I am sounding a little harsh. I know a lot of you moms are so young and have grown up with technology but take it from an older mom.  I would give my right arm to be able to go back to the Cove, when my children were little and play outside with them.  Once those days are gone, you can't get them back.  You can tweet, facebook, blog, cook, sew, volunteer, read, etc when you are an empty nester.  I am looking at my nest being empty in 17 months and let's just say, that I am not doing too well. In fact, I am really struggling with it.

Rachel left us with a challenge. Here it is. Get a piece of paper. Write two columns.  On one side write "I am farthest from grasping what matters when...."  On the other side write "I am closest to grasping what matters when...."   I pray that this will be a day of revelation for you. Start today and make a little progress every day!   Rachel's blog can be found at www.handsfreemama.com  She has hundreds of entries with hundreds of suggestions for becoming "hands free." Read it today and start your journey!  Thank you Rachel, for being a light to thousands of mamas who want to pursue what really matters!


I pray today that your life will be as wonderful as it was in the mind of God when He created you.  Remember, you don't have to be perfect to be wonderful!

Every blessing and lots of love,
JoAnne



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3 comments:

  1. Thank you for having Rachel speak to us! I started working on being hands free when I got home from small group yesterday!! LOVE IT!
    -Karen

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  2. Thank you for this beautiful re-cap of a wonderful experience together! I felt so inspired by the honesty and authenticity of the women in this group. Thank you all for giving me loving encouragement to be transparent and speak what God placed on my heart.

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    1. Thank you Hands Free Mama for sharing your revelation! JoAnne and Connie for all your prayers, counsel, love and wisdom. This group is blessing my socks off! I love you ladies! I'm so encouraged every week and especially this week. It's not about adding more to our plates, having spotless homes, or completing a to-do list. Life is about praising God for every countless blessing in our lives- especially our husbands and our children. Its about simplicity and being present where we are. We need to have boundaries to protect our time because no one else will and it's OK to say "No" to things. Ha! The biggest challenge is staying off my phone in the car. When you're not talking/texting it's pretty amazing what you hear. :)

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