Wowzer! Life has been a little bit of a whirl wind for the last 2
months. I am doing well to
remember what I ate for lunch earlier today much less to remember how to answer
someone when they ask “how was your weekend?” Was there a weekend recently?! Did I miss it?
The only reason I’m able to type this post tonight is because an event
on my calendar got canceled. Life
feels like it is going at 100mph right now & I know I’m not the only person
who feels like that. While I
can honestly say there isn’t much I can cut out to slow down, what I can say is
that this season has been an incredible lesson in learning to how to practice
operating in a place of rest even when my life pace is demanding & fast. I have failed miserably at that many
times, but I’m also learning to get it right.
I’m wearing several hats right now, I’ve got several balls
in the air that I’m juggling, lots of items on my plate…choose your favorite analogy.
Hat/Ball in the air/food item on plate #1
I am 2 months into planning my wedding & also 2 months
away from it…That’s right. We’re
planning this puppy in 4 months.
It has actually been one of the easiest items to have on the plate. Over the last 7 years I’ve heard first
hand how stressful planning a wedding can be. What I’ve realized with mine is this: Yes, there are a lot of things to think
about & make decisions on.
Yes, there are details that pop up that you won’t anticipate no matter
how much of a planner you are.
Yes, at least one of your agenda items is bound not to get done by the
dead line on your schedule. NO, it
does not have to be stressful.
When I feel my heart start to get pulled toward stress, I remind myself
that my wedding day doesn’t actually need to have any of the things that I’m
about to worry over. Centerpieces,
favors, the perfect songs, honestly even my wedding dress-I could go with out
that & still marry the man of my dreams, my best friend, the person Father
has blessed me to partner with in
ministry & walk through life with.
Re-centering myself around that truth keeps me from letting myself get
wrapped up in trivial things that aren’t even important when it comes to the
big picture of the covenant I’m stepping into. Stepping back & taking a broad view of your situation is
one of the healthiest practices you can have sometimes.
Hat/Ball/Food item #2
I work a demanding & frequently exhausting job. I love what I do, but I do A LOT of it & I fly solo most of the time & that can wear anyone out. Long story short, I work for a physical
therapy company & my responsibility is to keep 17 of our clinics full of
new patients needing therapy.
How do I do that? I visit
physician offices to nurture relationships with MDs & their staff as well
as coordinating any marketing/community events that the company decides to
participate in. Here’s what it
looks like in a super-simplified list:
- Visit 210 MD offices every 6 weeks
- Establish & nurture relationship with close to 1,000 physicians in the aforementioned offices
- Keep 17 PT clinics busy with new patients
- Market multiple specialty service lines to MDs on top of the orthopedic rehab that all clinics do. To do this you have to know your MDs, know what kind of patients they see & what programs will be most relevant to them. It can be crazy when you multiply it by almost 1,000 docs
Sounds like a lot right? Because it IS!
I had 3 days in a row last week that I was overwhelmed to the point of
tears. Again, I found myself with
an opportunity to practice operating in a spirit of rest. I reminded myself that my job is not my
identity. Yes, I love to perform
well, but no it does not define me.
Hat/Ball/Food items #3-#?
- Serve on the board of directors for an amazing anti human trafficking organization called Switch42:16. It is a complete honor & I’m so thankful to have been given that opportunity.
- Serve on the Church prayer teams on Monday nights.
- Host/facilitate a bible study on Tuesdays with some of the most amazing women that I’m privileged to do life with. I’m thankful for everything they bring into my life on a daily basis.
- Marriage counseling on Wednesday nights. I’m so thankful for couples who have gone before us & can share their wisdom. Shout out to Josh & Laura Houston who have been amazing so far!
- Still managing to get myself to the gym 4-5 times a week to get wedding/honeymoon ready.
- Spending as much quality time with my handsome fiancĂ© as I can. (And I can hear some of you thinking right now. "She listed him LAST on her list?" Yes I did! Because you're always supposed to save the best for last.) He works 50 + hours a week with a completely opposite work schedule from me (evenings & weekends) so we’re learning a lot of the same lessons right now. He has done an amazing job of being intentional about our relationship even in this busy season & I’m so thankful. He's a stud.
While it seems like I have a lot going on, I’ve realized
that it has actually been a blessing in disguise because it has forced me to
learn to rest in the middle of chaos.
I told someone the other day “If I can learn to operate in rest now, I
think I'll have gotten it on a whole new level”.
If I didn’t learn to stay in a place of rest I would break down (learned
that one first hand). I used to
cry out to the Lord to take some things off my plate, but what He’s done has
been much better. He’s
strengthened & stabilized my spirit to be able to keep its peace & rest
in the middle of a crazy life.
Abiding in His love & peace is the most restful thing I can do. I don’t need to worry about having the
perfect wedding, being the best performer at my job, having the best training
on being a good wife, being an all-star board member or group leader etc. Abiding
with Him & believing that I am all He says I am makes me great at all of
those things & with a lot less effort than I would have to exert if I tried
to do it with out Him. He knows
what He’s doing when he says “Come to me all you who are weary & heavy laden
& I will give you rest”. He is
the BEST rest-giver because his rest isn’t a cover up for burdens, it actually replaces
them. He takes our burdens away
completely & gives us rest. I
couldn’t do this life with out him.
This post isn’t meant to be a “busy-ness comparison” for anyone to feel
more or less busy than anyone else.
It was simply a post for me to 1) vent! & 2) share that the
important thing to master in a busy life isn’t how well you can multi-task but
how well you can learn to abide in Him & rest in the middle of chaos. Learning to do that will be more
valuable than any self-help book on time-management, multi-tasking or “being
all you can be”. His love is what
enables us be all we were created to be :) If you’re still reading, thanks for
hanging in there! I know this was
a long one, but it sure felt good to get that off my chest :) Thanks for listening!