Between a schedule change at work (finally), keeping up with a wee one, finding time to be a couple, being involved in a church plant (launch is SOOO close), finding ways to keep connected to friends, horribly failing to keep the apartment clean, and on and on, lets just say making time for the things I loved doing before all this (and still love and miss terribly) has been near impossible.
So here this place sits. Without a post. For days, weeks, sometimes months on end. Sadly. Lonely. Unfortunately. I so love sharing this space with all of you.
With this time of transition things have just been off. Like I'm kinda floating in space watching everything go on around me, and it's all going so quickly. Some days I feel like I'm in a fog, that it's all a dream.
I love being a mommy. Although, I don't feel like it has come as naturally as I was hoping, it is a job I know I am privileged to be able to claim. The challenges that come with it have been more than I could imagine. Then again, so has all the laughter and the smiles.
Being a good friend has been set on the back burner, I feel. I am not quite as readily available for my friends as I once was. It's not something I like, but it is something that I have learned to adapt to. Once I do have the time, I often lack the brain power to sustain meaningful, deep, real conversations.
A wife. That is another facet of who I am. Another area that, while it comes naturally and we finally have the same schedule, I tend to not have made this a priority. Again, wife, a title I wear proudly, confidently, humbly. However, it is a title I feel like I am lacking to live up to in none-the-less.
What do all these have in common? The way I love.
Last weekend literally everything I heard, everywhere I went, every conversation was focused on LOVE. Not just any love but God's love. Not just anything having to do with His love. But a question:
What is the message I am displaying when it comes to His love?
Are there people in my life that aren't hearing the gospel of Jesus because of me?
Yeah...ouch. Then a challenge came about...what do I need to put on the back burner in order to show his love to those I encounter every day?
But for me, it wasn't about putting something on the back burner. As we were sitting there I felt the conviction. I knew that I needed to share. The longer we talked, the more the Spirit pressed. It was then I realized that for me, it was all about taking something off the back burner and placing it back where it needed to be.
My job, as much as I love it, takes all I have. Mentally, emotionally, physically, and yes, even spiritually. It was becoming abundantly clear that giving my all at work has been shorting the people I love more than I am comfortable with. By the time I would get home I was exhausted, my brain was much, my patience was shot, my attention span was gone, I was done for the day.
All of this was lead me to being short, defensive, easily agitated, and snappy with the guys in my house. I was seeing snippets of the weeks prior of reactions, conversations and such that I'd displayed, and I found myself disgusted with myself. For me, the challenged boiled down to loving my family better.
Learning how to give my all at work, but still leave the best of me for my guys at home. I need not short them because of the demands of my job. The task seemed (and still seems) impossible but I know that there is One who will give me the strength to succeed. All I need to do is rely upon Him.
So I ask you friend, to look over these questions...these challenges...examine your heart and be honest with yourself about the answers.
What is the message I am displaying when it comes to His love?
Are there people in my life that aren't hearing the gospel of Jesus because of me?
What do I need to put on the back burner in order to show his love to those I encounter every day?
