This morning I woke up with the word "balance" on my mind. I think this is a lesson God has been teaching me recently and I am still in the classroom :)
The thought usually is that someone fresh out of high school or college seems "ready to take on the world". I think I am just arriving at that stage now. I really feel like I have so much desire to create and dream and plan and serve and give that I might possibly explode :) Maybe it is the realization that I have already completed 29 years of my life and now that I am entering my 30's I want to do and see and experience so much in the next 30.
But the Lord gently reminds me often to slow down. To savor moments with Him and moments with my family. I am so thankful for those reminders to just be and not do.
Which brings me back to finding balance. I want to always be aware of my full reason for being on this earth which is to bring Glory to him. And I want to be able to fully engage in living and using my desires and gifts but to not get so focused on those that they take precidence over my time with Him and my engaging in my relationship with Him.
In the most basic of ways I am trying to find balance here at home. If I gave into my tendencies I would vaccum my floor 3 times a day, do dishes 10 times a day, and pick up toys, clothes, and shoes a million times a day. But what would that accomplish? I have tried, in vain, to keep a "perfect" home at times. But once one mess is cleaned up another is happening behind me (thanks to 2 rambuncious boys!). The balance I am finding for myself in it all is this:
For me, a clean bedroom helps calm me and makes it all feel "ok". The same with the kitchen. So I wake up each morning and make the bed look beautiful. I clean the side tables of any glasses, book, or papers we may have laid there the night before. I pick up shoes, clothes, toys or anything else that has made its way in there. I open the blinds to let it full of light. That starts my day off right. The rest of the house could be in chaos but the balance I find is that I need a retreat to keep me calm and un-messy throughout the day and then I can be ok with buiding blocks scattered around the living room and books fallen off the bookshelf.
The balance I am finding in the rest of my life is learning to say "no". This is a hard one! It is hard not because I want to be a people pleaser but because really I WANT to do everything! I would love the opportunity to plan a wedding shower, volunteer endlessly at the church, launch a business with a friend, etc... As fun and challenging as each thing is that is brought my way, it is impossible for me to say yes to them all. I do say yes to most though but each day I am learning to pick and choose and narrow the focus on things I feel God would lead me to do.
I feel so incredibly, over-the-top blessed in my life. We are RICH! RICH in financial ways compared to most of the world, RICH in health, RICH in spiritual blessings, RICH in creativity and dreams for the future. We are RICH in our relationships as a family and with our friends. There is nothing more in life we need but we continually pursue to grow, dream big and be skillfully crafted by our Maker.