Overwhelmed?
The holidays are over but as I talk to friends, colleagues, and parents it seems like the train’s still runnin’ full steam. As parents, our calendars are full without our children’s activities and once you factor in their schedules and your spouses there is far less time to spend together just as a family. If I could share just one challenge it would be to take 10 minutes and look at your families week.
For me this would mean clearing the kitchen table, getting out Megan’s big desk calendar, opening my Google Calendar, and opening my iPhone calendar. As much as I try I don’t always get everything on just one calendar. Now to the point. Pick out 3 different colored crayons which will designate 1) essential, 2) non-essential, 3) family.
A few examples:
-An essential event may be a work schedule, necessary meeting, school event, etc.
-A non-essential event may be bowling night with the guys, extra-curricular activities (this is where most of our calendars get clogged)
-A family event may be essential or non-essential, but can bring you together as a family.
Now mark all you activities and events with a dot, check mark, etc. using the appropriate color. Side Note: This could be a great family together project.
Now look at the week/month ahead. Are there things you can cut out of your schedule to reduce stress? Are there things that could be hindering your spiritual growth? your families? Check out these passages from New Living Translation:
Proverbs 12:25 - “Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up.”
2 Corinthians 4:17,18 – “For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”
Jeremiah 29:11-14 – “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord . ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,’ says the Lord . ‘I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes.’”
1 Chronicles 4:10 – (Prayer of Jabez) “He was the one who prayed to the God of Israel, ‘Oh, that you would bless me and expand my territory! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain!’ And God granted him his request.
Many times my schedule is so full that a Bible study or focused time of prayer is the last thing I want to do, but it is in those times that we need time with our Lord and Savior. Megan and I remind ourselves nightly how blessed we are in the good and the bad and fervently ask for God’s continued blessing. It is easy to ask God to bless us, but to take it to another level and be responsible for what he does bless us with is the challenge.
What has God blessed you with in your life? What about recently? Are there things you let get in your way of seeking out God and His will for your life. Are there things that clog up your families schedule that keeps you from a weekly bible study together?
God is on our side, if we want Him to be. He knows what is best for us and our families. If we seek Him in all that we do, He will bless us.
