Joan C. Webb
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Life Coaching
    • Life Coaching Brochure
    • What Others Say about Life Coaching
    • LifePlan Brochure
  • Spiritual Direction
  • Intentional Woman
    • The Intentional Woman Mission/Vision
    • The Intentional Woman Authors
    • IW LifePlan
  • Freebies
  • Joan's Promo Page
  • What Others Say about Joan's Speaking/Teaching
  • Books
    • Nourishment for New Moms
    • The Intentional Woman
    • The Relief of Imperfection
    • It's a Wonderful (Imperfect) Life
    • Everyday Wisdom
    • Devotions for Little Boys and Girls
    • Meditations for Christians Who Try to Be Perfect
    • Joan's Writing Contributions
  • Connect with Joan
    • About Joan
    • Listen to Joan

   Joan's BLOG

Your Personal Mommy-Style 

5/19/2014

2 Comments

 
Picture
After your Mother's Day celebration, you may be back to your regular mommy-routine, wondering how you can do your mom-role in the way that fits you best. When it comes to life and time management as a mother, it can be helpful to consider your personality style. 


For a brief overview of how you approach managing your life and time, answer these simple questions. Circle (in your mind) the questions or statements that best describe you. Read each of the couplet questions below and think about which most represents what you prefer to do. 

A1. Are you recharged by activity, interaction, and conversation with others? OR
A2. Do you gain renewed energy by being and working alone or one-on-one and by writing down your thoughts?

B1. Do you like to make immediate decisions and have a motto something like “Let’s get going. We’ve got lots to do.” Do you feel stressed when you’re forced to slow down and do nothing for extended periods of time? 
OR
B2. Are you more comfortable discovering all the possibilities and reflecting before you decide and have a motto similar to “If something’s worth doing, it’s worth taking time and doing it well.” Do you get physically and emotionally drained when you feel pushed into including too many fast-paced activities on your calendar for too long?

C1. Would you rather focus on the facts and figures about a problem/issue and like to organize your agenda and stick to the plan? 
OR
C2. Do you notice your feelings easily, like to tell stories, and focus on what others are doing and feeling before you try to figure out solutions?


GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK

After reflecting on your answers to the above questions, what would you say about your mommy-self right now? Remember, whatever you surmise at the current time is not set in stone. You’re an adaptable woman, and you just might think and react differently at another season of your life. Give yourself a break.


When I sat my sleep-deprived mommy-self down years ago and asked, “Well, Joan, what do you need right now?” My spontaneous response was “a little spiral notebook”* to write down when I last nursed my baby girl and to record my needs and grocery items as I thought of them. Pretty simple, huh? I kept it in a pocket or on a table where I fed the baby. 

Now it’s your turn. When it comes to your current mom time-schedule related issues, what do you need? What’s the first thing that pops into your brain? Nothing? Well, then, what’s the second thing that pops into you mind?

There are no right-or-wrong responses to these questions, so relax. Move away from the it’s-either-black-or-white thinking. When it comes to scheduling and timing in your motherhood role, do what works for you and your family.



What did you discover about your mom-role?

* That was a long time ago. I might decide to use my iPhone for this now!!)

Picture
Adapted from Joan's book, Nourishment for New Moms.


Find the answers and encouragement you need to tackle this life-altering transition in the sage advice, practical strategies, and biblically based pointers in my book Nourishment for New Moms.  It's sure to help you survive the challenges of motherhood--with grace, poise and humor intact.


2 Comments

How Annette Funicello Influenced Me!

4/10/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Annette! My twin-cousin Jean and I loved that name. We watched Annette Funicello on TV. Jean and I even dreamed of naming our daughters (someday in the future) that pretty name, “Annette.” (Jean on left. Joan on right in photo. How about that "pompadour"??)

But we couldn’t both have daughters named Annette. Solution: Jean’s first-born was a girl and she named her “Annette.” She was (and is!) beautiful just like Annette Funicello; dark hair, glowing olive skin, lovely smile. I named my first-born (a girl, also!) Lynnette. She’s beautiful, too, with blond hair, fairer skin and a gorgeous smile. 

Then I grew up to write a book about how joy and imperfection can co-exist titled  The Relief of Imperfection. Annette Funicello grew up to act, dance and sing in movies, eventually developing multiple sclerosis and showing us all that indeed joy, pain and imperfection can co-exist.

Picture
Annette Funicello said, “Life doesn’t have to be perfect to be wonderful!” Her words so impressed me that I quoted her on page 123 of The Intentional Woman book that I co-wrote with Carol Travilla. And two books later, Annette’s quote led way to the title of my devotional book, It’s a Wonderful (Imperfect) Life, for women who strive too hard to make it all just right.

It’s amazing how one person can personally impact another and never know about it. One article I read quoted Annette Funicello as saying, “I thank God I just didn’t wake up one morning and not be able to walk. You learn to live with it [MS]. …This just makes me appreciate the Lord even more because things could always be worse. I know he will see me through this.” After Annette’s death on Monday, April 8, 2013 in Bakersfield (the city where my two children were born), her daughter Gina said, “She’s on her toes dancing in heaven … no more MS.”

Picture
Annette Funicello touched my life in numerous personal ways, although she didn’t know it here on this earth. Whether we realize it or not, we impact and influence others during our lives, also. That truth encourages to me today, because sometimes (I admit it!) I stress about whether I’ve done enough for God or if I’ve made a difference in the lives of the people He planned for me to touch. So today I’ll cease trying so hard to make that happen and let God orchestra the connections. He can do it, just like He connected Annette and me.

Do you have an “Annette Funicello” story? Or a thought about how God makes connections that inspire? Please leave me a comment. I’d love to hear from you.

0 Comments

Stop Just Letting Life Happen to You!

1/30/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
“I feel so unfocused and disorganized!” said my friend Laura. She had been downsized from her job, moved, and was trying to decide whether to get married again. “How can I manage all this change?"  she asked. “It’s hard for me to be intentional. What in the world that is, anyway?”   

Perhaps like Laura, you wonder what I mean when I write about “becoming an intentional woman.” Although it's a process and not always easy, it is possible.  I can't change anyone else, but I can make positive changes in my own attitudes and behavior. An intentional woman with a heart for God:

  • Works at becoming proactive, instead of just letting life happen to her—merely reacting to life’s unexpected circumstances. 
  • Accepts what she cannot change about her season and circumstances, making courageous and deliberate decisions about the things she can change. 
  • Is not self-absorbed to the point of leaving others out of her life; nor does she live her life through or for others. The attitudes and pressures of other people do not unduly influence her. 
  • Is directed, not driven and focused, not floundering.
  • Realizes she won't be perfectly problem-free, yet she has a desire to honor God with what she has been given. 

Picture
Yet I believe that the key reason for living intentionally is to glorify God as the person He created you to be. In honoring our uniqueness, you and I come before our Creator and Savior with freedom and integrity. Just writing that down makes my shoulders relax and my breath to flow easier. How about you?

What's one word that reminds you of an "becoming an intentional woman"?

*Preparing to facilitate/teach an Intentional Woman Seminar this weekend led me to share this tonight. 


0 Comments

Category Listing

8/2/2006

1 Comment

 
1 Comment
    Picture

    Joan C. Webb

    Writing, teaching, coaching to empower and set free.
    Joan is an inspirational speaker, Bible teacher, Life Coach, and author of 13 books including It's a Wonderful (Imperfect) Life, The Relief of Imperfection, The Intentional Woman. She does consulting, as well as Life Coaching, for writers, speakers, ministry leaders and entrepreneurs.

    Connect with Joan.  

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Bible/Scripture
    Bible/Scripture
    Books/Reading
    Christmas
    Easter
    God/Faith
    God/Faith
    Gratitude/Thanksgiving
    Gratitude/Thanksgiving
    Health/Disease/Healing
    Helpwell Being5b82e02159
    Helpwellbeingd0a8f36645
    Holy Spirit
    Hope
    Intentional Living
    Intentional Woman
    Jesus
    Leadership
    Life Coaching
    Love
    Marriage
    Motherhood
    Overwhelmed/Overworked
    Parenting/Children
    Patriotism/Country
    People Pleasing
    People-pleasing
    Perfectionism
    Prayer
    Relief Of Imperfection
    Retreat/Rest
    Self Help/Well Being
    Self Help/Well Being
    Stress
    Work
    Writing

    Archives

    April 2020
    May 2017
    February 2016
    May 2015
    February 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008
    September 2008
    April 2008
    March 2008
    February 2008
    January 2008
    December 2007
    November 2007
    August 2006

"Are you tired? Come to me. ...Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
​Jesus (Matthew 11:28-30)

Interact with Joan

About Joan
Connect
Books
Listen to Joan
Photos used with permission from Future Photo Group

Copyright 2019 Joan C. Webb

Free Resources

Relief of Imperfection Chart
Wheel of Life Inventory
Feelings Chart
Coaching and Mentoring

Life Coaching

Tell Me about Life Coaching
What Others Say

Intentional Woman

IW LifePlan
IW 5-Step Process
Picture
Photos used under Creative Commons from edenpictures, Renee Silverman, whologwhy, Jaime Olmo, Monkey Mash Button, peasap, Thomás, flik, Evil Erin, kennethkonica, JLStricklin, marioanima, jubileelewis, tswicegood, fhwrdh, Irwin-Scott, raymond_zoller, xindilo, Kumaravel, Tucker Sherman, h.koppdelaney, torbakhopper, Thomas Rousing, Patrick Hoesly, Sharon Mollerus, Por mi tripa..., Parker Knight, analogophile, JD Hancock, marimbajlamesa, ellyn., Nathan O'Nions, jessleecuizon, ZiarciRose, Alan Cleaver, BékiPe, kevin dooley, libertygrace0, Ryk Neethling, LadyDragonflyCC *TY for 500,000 views! *, Leonid Mamchenkov, Danielle Scott, GabrielaP93
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Life Coaching
    • Life Coaching Brochure
    • What Others Say about Life Coaching
    • LifePlan Brochure
  • Spiritual Direction
  • Intentional Woman
    • The Intentional Woman Mission/Vision
    • The Intentional Woman Authors
    • IW LifePlan
  • Freebies
  • Joan's Promo Page
  • What Others Say about Joan's Speaking/Teaching
  • Books
    • Nourishment for New Moms
    • The Intentional Woman
    • The Relief of Imperfection
    • It's a Wonderful (Imperfect) Life
    • Everyday Wisdom
    • Devotions for Little Boys and Girls
    • Meditations for Christians Who Try to Be Perfect
    • Joan's Writing Contributions
  • Connect with Joan
    • About Joan
    • Listen to Joan