3 Ways I Romanticized Life in March As A Christian Mom Rebuilding After Burnout
A Monthly Update on My 2026 Analog Living Experiment
Hey sweet friend,
If you haven’t noticed already, I have changed the name of this publication to Dwell & Delight, and I have found it to be such a fitting name for where I’m at and what I’m doing here on Substack, as well as in my personal life.
I really want my articles and notes to all read as if they are texts or letters to a friend about what God is doing in my life, what He is teaching me, and the things I’m loving or learning as I grow as a woman of God, as a wife, and as a mom.
I have been very passionate about soft and slow living over the last few years, and that has morphed into an intentional approach across all areas of my life. After burnout brought me to the feet of Jesus, I have found that my only desire in this season of my life is to be faithful with where I’m at and learn how to slow down and dwell in the good AND hard seasons, and to find or create delight no matter the circumstances.
I will say it was a lot easier to do this in March because January and February brought bleak weather to Texas, with ice storms, dark yet early evenings, and a busier work schedule for my husband. Things have since lightened up a little bit with my husband’s job (and literally with daylight saving time), and the weather in Texas has brought longer days and more beautiful weather. I’ve been trying to soak it all in before it gets super hot here in Texas and stays hot for the next seven months lol.
Without further ado, here are the things I did in March to dive deeper into my faith and find joy in motherhood that did NOT include endless scrolling.
What the Analog Experiment Looked Like This Month
Seasonally Themed Activities
The first thing I did to kick off my joy campaign was to plan and execute seasonal activities for my kids and me to enjoy together.
I LOVE flowers (basically everything I have is some sort of floral print), so this was an easy season to plan for.
Here’s the list of activities that I made, some of which we have done and some which are still in the works:
make a fairy garden
ID plants on nature walks
make flower crowns
press flowers and turn them into decorations
make decorative paper chains
raise and release butterflies
We just finished our fairy garden adventure (here is an article on how I turned it into a fun scavenger hunt and what it taught me about faith!), and now we are in the chrysalis phase of raising our butterflies for release, which was a favorite activity from last year.
Over the last year and a half, I’ve really focused on creating seasonal baskets I can do with my kids, or themed crafts and activities that would be fun for all of us, so this next week I will be working on affordable bunny baskets for Easter!
Spending Time Outside
The second thing I have been implementing is being outside as much as possible. We finally got our back porch cleaned up after not touching it over the winter, and we were able to score some amazing patio furniture for free from a neighbor who had put it on the curb.
I have also made it a little game to try to find things for our backyard as affordably as possible, such as getting a few things like bubbles and a new kiddie pool from Dollar General, and checking out our Buy Nothing group for more things that we could use to play outside.
Because of the nice weather, our after-school time has been so sweet and intentional, where we eat outside, play outside, and read our Bible outside, and our family has been loving that intentional time. Along with that, for myself personally, I’ve been enjoying going on a lot of walks.
We live near a greenbelt, so just being able to listen to my Bible or go on a prayer walk around our neighborhood or in the greenbelt has been such a fulfilling, holy habit for me.
Following the Liturgical Calendar
The third thing is following the liturgical calendar. While I grew up Southern Baptist and currently attend a non-denominational church, I’ve had many sweet friends in the Anglican and Catholic traditions who have taught me about the beauty and traditions of liturgy and the rhythms of incorporating the liturgical calendar into seasonal activities.
We have been loving going through the book Sacred Seasons, and it offers wonderful ideas for adapting different rhythms and disciplines into daily life with the kids. It has also been interesting for us to learn about different saints, and there are also wonderful recipes and activity suggestions to follow, so it is something I highly recommend.
What March Revealed
This month showed me that when life slows down even just a little, it’s so much easier to notice what’s truly important. The extra light in the evenings, the warmer weather, and just being able to breathe outside with my kids reminded me how much joy is in simple, intentional moments.
Living more “analog” and “offline” has become much more second nature now than it was right around Christmas, as a lot of my focus has shifted from trying to find happiness in my phone to getting dopamine hits by putting things together for the joy of my family. As it turns out, it is way more fun to create moments of delight than it is to consume megabytes of dopamine. Who knew??
A Gentle Encouragement
If any of this resonates with you, let this be your sign to try your own analog experiment. It doesn’t have to look like mine, or like what you see online. It doesn’t even have to look the same month to month.
Making it an experiment gives so much more freedom. It lets you find sustainable ways to use your phone as a tool while also building a life you love offline.
I would love to hear what that looks like for you.
Thank you for being part of this. ✨
Much love,
Sarah
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