Guess what?! We’re a quarter finished with this trip around the sun! How’d it go? Usually I’d hate this question, and feel guilt from anyone who asks it, but I’d like to think I’m growing up, so I can ask myself the question without breaking out in hives.
Craig Groschel said that you cannot change what you have not defined, which is just a fancy way of saying you’ll be stuck forever unless you define (or review) some things.
Is reviewing life scary? Yeah, maybe. It’s sort of like one of those magnifying mirrors. Everything seems fine until I 25x my face and then somehow it looks more like the craters of the moon than I’d like to admit.
That’s just it though, what if the “defining” that needs to happen for change starts when we see our life at 25x the size? For better or worse, it does have a way of slowing you down when you see your pores blown up to colossal sizes. Maybe it’s the same with life. Maybe slowing down to check in with how things are going is what we need.
With the Artemis II crew headed back from the dark side of the moon, I was curious how often they “checked in” with earth during the first eight days of their voyage. The answer – near CONSTANT checking in with earth, all except for a planned 40-minute outage on the dark side of the moon. We’re not talking daily reviews, weekly reports, we’re talking CONSTANT communication to see how things are going.
Not to belittle the furthest space exploration of all time, but is our trip around the sun any less valuable than their trip around the moon? Just because we’ve done the same trip around the sun for a few thousand years doesn’t mean it’s any less amazing. So here’s my question: If the Artemiss II crew checks in constantly, do you think we could do it quarterly?
Google says Q1 reviews need to answer “What was your biggest accomplishment, and what was your biggest challenge, this past quarter?” That’s fine, but it’s SO focused on DOING stuff. Guess what, this trip around the sun is about way more than doing stuff. If you’re like me, focusing on how much you did or didn’t do, awakens my perfectionistic beast like none other. Why? Because the to-do list DOESN’T SHRINK!!
What if our review was more about trajectory than accomplishment? Chat GPT says the single most important Q1 review question a Christian can ask is, “Have I been faithful to what God actually asked of me this quarter?” I love that question because it’s bite-sized. It’s daily. It’s manageable for my brain instead of crippling me with perfection.
Personally, my 2026 Q1 is actually Trimester 4 of pregnancy with baby #5. As you can imagine, my colossal to-do list is going strong as my feral nesting instincts get me closer to delivery. Guess what I wrote all over my planner for the last few months though? When overwhelmed threatened to take over my last quarter, I wrote, “Take ONE DAY at a time.” What is in front of you TODAY. Can you handle that? Can I be faithful to what God asked of me – today?
The answer is YES! You can! The beautiful thing is that if we mess up today, we can get back on it tomorrow!
So where do you need to check in today heading into Q2?
Maybe you need to start walking every day now that the world isn’t frozen over. Maybe you need to read the marriage book you were gifted. Maybe you need to declare war on your house and unleash a purging battle. Maybe you need to drink more water …
Or maybe, today’s small decision is even more significant than any of those things. Maybe today’s small decision could affect the rest of your life. With Easter in our recent rear view mirror, maybe your ‘26 Q2 needs to answer the nudge to get your kids (and yourself!) to church. Maybe going more than just Christmas and Easter is exactly what your 2026 trip around the sun needs.
No matter what we do, let’s be faithful to what’s in front of us. Let’s define where we are so we can change where we are going – because like it or not, this trip around the sun is important!
Meet your farmer – Liz Gerdes. She & her husband run a farm-to-table Raw milk dairy and Airbnb in Caledonia, Minn. They empower moms (& dads) to confidently feed their families nutrient-dense food using farm fresh milk! Visit gerdesfreshfarm.com or follow her on Facebook @gerdesfreshfarm or Instagram @gerdesliz for more info.
Lemon Angel Pie
Lemon Angel Pie with meringue crust is a little taste of heaven! Thanks to yourhomebasedmom.com for a new favorite!
1 cup sugar
4 eggs, separated, room temperature
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. grated lemon rind
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups whipping cream.
Beat egg whites until white and fluffy.
Add in 1 cup sugar gradually and cream of tartar.
Beat until stiff but not dry (it’s ok if this doesn’t happen).
Pour into a buttered 9” deep dish glass pie dish and press up against the sides.
Bake meringue crust at 300 degrees for 45-60 minutes. Cool.
Filling
- Beat 4 egg yolks slightly.
- Stir in 1/2 cup sugar, 3 Tbsp. lemon juice and 1 Tbsp. grated lemon rind, 1/4 tsp. salt.
- Cook until thickened in the microwave for 4 minutes (stir every 30 seconds) Cool. (I did mine on the stove top in a stainless steel pot – stirring constantly until it thickened)
- Whip 2 cups whipping cream and fold 1/2 of whipped cream into lemon mixture.
- Pour into a cooled meringue shell. Top with the remaining whip cream. Chill for 24 hours.
Note: Your weather will affect how well your egg whites stiffen and I have made this dessert many times when they don’t stiffen up and it looks more like thick white soup. That’s o.k.! Just pour it into the pan and it will be fine, I promise.
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