When Life Gets Busy

When life gets busy and crazy, I actually begin to enjoy it…for a short time. Then, I get tired, stressed, overwhelmed, and the interactions with my family begin to suffer.

In the midst of making beautiful digital images, learning to make chain mail jewelry, trying to write a novel, working on publishing my second children’s book, keeping up with a blog, homeschooling my kiddos, tutoring math, leading our worship team, keeping house, being a mom, being a wife, dealing with a death in the family, helping my mom in her latter years…I find myself a little disoriented and overwhelmed.

image of a life watch with the words late, rush, no time, stress, pressure swirling around it

You see, in that massive list above, I didn’t even mention child of God, daughter of the King, Bride of Jesus.

This busy life is threatening to effectively separate me from the one thing that matters most…my relationship with God.

I am first and foremost, His daughter…a daughter of the King of kings, Creator of the Universe. And when I stop to think about this, there are three things that run through my mind/soul:

I Miss Him.

I didn’t have these three things figured out before I started writing this post. Three things are fun and easy to read, so I went with it. The very first thing that came to mind about this season of crazy is that I miss Him.

I miss our times together. Before kids, I had many extended times with the Lord. We sang together, danced together, and spent time together in His word.

I felt full.

So, I miss Him. That is reason enough for me to reassess my life schedule right now. To push out some of the distractions to ensure time with Jesus, not out of religiosity, but out of love. A true desire to sit in His presence.

Is It Enough?

The thought I have been struggling with the most is, Is it enough? Is it enough to just be me? Is it enough to simply be daughter of the King, wife to my husband, mother to my children, keeper of my house.

image of a princess crown on a woman's head

This seems ludicrous, as I type it out, but it is a serious question in my heart. Is it enough? Am I enough?

If I let go of everything that I am doing, and scale back to simply being daughter, wife, mom, keeper…where does that leave me?

It is a question of identity, a question of worth. Somehow, it has grown in my heart, the need for affirmation again. The ooh’s and aah’s I get from creating a beautiful product or a touching story, etc.

If I am not noticed by the humans around me for my creativity, will I feel loved? A part of me feels so bad for even entertaining these questions, but they are real. They are there and it doesn’t do me any good to ignore them.

It is time to face them.

Can I Do It?

Which brings me to my next thought, Can I do it? Can I let go of these things. I want to, but in all honesty, there is some fear there. There is some sadness in letting the extras go.

image of an open hand representing letting go

Some, I know can’t be given up. Some things in life just have to be done. Others, however, I have brought on myself. I love being creative, yet I need to revaluate the motives. Asking the Lord if it was my idea or His idea will be helpful in this process.

I suppose the ultimate answer to this question is, Yes, I can do it. In some cases, I may not want to, but when push comes to shove, I can do it.

So the next thing is to actually do something about it. To put words into action. I can write about it all day, but unless I walk it out, it makes no difference.

It is time for me to take it to the Lord; to find out what it is He wants me to do and what I need to let go.

Will you join me?