When Life is Hectic

I remember sitting through night after night of meetings during my first years of college, frustrated beyond all comprehension. I had things to do that needed doing for crying out loud, and these scheduled meetings seemed like a pointless waste of time. Thankfully, a couple semesters into it, Someone With Power decided the same thing and consolidated the meetings to one night. They also figured college students to be literate, and substituted some of the meetings with announcements. A relief to be sure.

The worst part about this whole wrench-in-my-schedule was that Certain of the people in charge would look at us condescendingly and say "If you think you're busy now, wait until you get OUT of college!" and kind of chuckle under their breath. This would make me roll the eyes of my justice-seeking soul in disbelief. I was almost positive that this was not the case.

Well, 5 years (plus) later, I can say that they were most definitely wrong. There is a vast difference between creating your own busy schedule and having someone else create immovable appointments for you.

However. Sometimes in the schedule-creating, you don't say no quite often enough, or commitments overlap, or there are Major Conflicts of Interest, and life just gets more and more hectic until you feel like yelling "STOP THE MERRY-GO-ROUND! I'm GETTING OFF!" Which, being interpreted is, "I need to burrow under my covers and sleep while everyone does just fine without me"

So what do you do when life gets hectic? Part of me wants to hold on until my fingers turn white and barrel through, with the idea that whether or not the job actually gets done well, at least I can survive it. But, as one of my professors used to say, "God does not give brownie points for being busy!" Not to mention, that attitude is just a little bit self reliant. Oops.

What is it that we "HAVE" to do, anyway? Sometimes, good things, church programs, friendships, housework, fun activities come waaaaay too high on our priority list. What we HAVE to do is honor God. We HAVE to behave ourselves in a way that demonstrates to the world that we know Him. And we HAVE His help, His strength, and His grace to survive even the most hectic of times.

It's true that sometimes we have to say no. Sometimes we even have to call someone back and tell them we goofed, and we can't help with ________. And sometimes, we can't call anyone back because we were the ones doing the calling around for help. So sometimes biting the bullet and getting the job done is the only option.

God is my audience, my final judge. Before I ask "what will others think if I don't do this or if that is done this way" I need to be concerned about God's perspective. I needed a reminder of the basics this morning - He calls me first to be a follower of HIM, second, a wife, third, a mother. Everything else? Bonus.

I say YES a little too often, without thinking. Like, you know, about a month ago, when August looked open and free and easy and I forgot about weekly OB visits and pending child preparations. And toddler-entering-the-terrible-twos. And a variety of other things. Today, I need to quiet my heart, take a gigantic deep breath, and concentrate on the basics.

Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

God has me, my family, and even our hectic schedule in His hands. Isn't it great that we can trust HIM? No matter what, He is our refuge, our very present help. And when life gets hectic, watching Him work out the details is even better than burrowing under the covers for a long, long nap.