Balanced: With Legacy & Love

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Legacy & Love with Paula Mowery

"Balanced and Intentional." 

Can you believe I actually chose those two words as my guide words this year? When God nudges, you have to follow through. And, these were the words that just kept resonating in my mind and spirit. 

A fair statement about me is that I have a full plate. Maybe overflowing. I am a pastor’s wife and a mom to a college-aged daughter. I am an author, speaker, and acquisitions editor. And, on top of all of that, I work part-time as a preschool assistant in a local public school. To answer your obvious question: Yes, I most definitely am crazy!

Now it is clear why I needed to choose balanced and intentional for my watch words. I strive to have a balance in my life between the many roles and tasks I have to accomplish. All the while, I want to keep my intentions focused, which means always to bring glory to the Lord. 

How do I achieve balance? Sometimes I admittedly don’t. But, I am a very organized and scheduled type person. To assure that all tasks get done and all deadlines are met, I keep a detailed schedule. Actually, my calendar looks more like a teacher planner. I suppose this works for me because I used to teach middle school. 

At the end of the week, I look ahead to see if there are deadlines or pressing projects that must be done. I then write those in on the next week’s days, spreading out the tasks in comfortable and manageable blocks. I include those things that have to be done weekly like writing blogs and posting them. 

One important balancing act that I do is try to finish with my more involved writing and editing tasks before my hubby comes home. I want to be able to eat supper with him and sit with him and my daughter in the family room for a few hours each evening. Because I’m not big on TV watching, I will often read a book I will be reviewing or even work on editing on my tablet. These are things I can do while sitting with them and still in conversation with them. 

Because my role as a pastor’s wife can call for dropping everything sometimes, I strive to work ahead. This means I impose earlier deadlines on myself than what might actually be called for. This helps when there is an unexpected sickness or death in the church which takes me away from my work temporarily. 

Do I have moments when I feel totally unbalanced and stressed? Yes. That’s when I stop, take a deep breath, and ask God to calm my spirit. Then I pray for Him to show me how to rearrange and adjust so I can get things done. That’s more about the intentional part. The whole reason I want to be balanced is to accomplish everything, and the reason I want to accomplish everything is because the only things that count are the things we do that honor the Lord. 

This being intentional is a little like the legacy I want to leave. I wish to leave a godly legacy. The theme of my new release is centered on this very idea. I hope you’ll check out Legacy and Love and consider your legacy.

About Paula

Paula Mowery is a published author, acquisitions editor, and speaker. Her first two published works were The Blessing Seer and Be The Blessing from Pelican Book Group. Both are women’s fiction, and their themes have been the topics of speaking engagements. In November of 2013, her first romance released in the anthology, Brave New Century, from Prism Book Group. Legacy and Love is her first solo romance. Reviewers of her writing characterize it as “thundering with emotion.” Her articles have appeared in Woman’s World, The Christian Online Magazine, and the multi-author devotional blog, Full Flavored Living.

As an acquisitions editor for Prism Book Group, Paula particularly looks for romance stories with Christian values at its core. She’s especially attracted to those manuscripts that leave the reader mulling over the story long after turning the last page.

Having been an avid reader of Christian fiction, she now puts that love to use by writing book reviews. She is a member of ACFW and is on the author interview team.

Paula is a pastor’s wife and mom to a first year college student. She home schooled her daughter through all twelve years, and they both lived to tell about it. Before educating her daughter at home, she was an English teacher in public school.

You can follow Paula at www.facebook.com/pages/Paula-Mowery/175869562589187. Learn more about Paula at her blog at www.paulamowery.blogspot.com or enjoy her monthly columns on www.christianonlinemagazine.com.