My life as a Mom of six kids (or shall I say mom like my kids say mom… “MAAA- MAAAA”) always feels like I am GO-GO-GO! The second my eyes open in the morning till the time my head gets to finally hit the pillow at night (which is usually hours after I would like it too) I always feel like I am having to rush. As exhausted as I am every day, my mind is constantly thinking of the things I have to do tomorrow but what I didn’t finish today…that will now add onto the top of my tomorrow list. So yay! #sarcasm Another day of rushing.
After reading my devotional this morning, it spoke to me. It’s HARD sometimes, really hard sometimes… to stop…take a breath… and see Gods beauty he has placed in front of me. The more I do or add to my list, the faster I feel like I have to work to get it all done. But the truth is hurry/rushing robs me of the beauty God has given me and the grace I so desperately need. I know a lot of others think I have patience like a saint…but the truth is, even though I feel like God has shown me a lot over the last few years about patience…it doesn’t mean it’s always easy to be patient.
As the 2018 year approached us, Adam and I set a family goal to focus on Joy. What that really meant we had to do was look at our life and pin point what our days were actually filled with…to our careers/work, to our time with our kids, to our time with family and friends, to our church, to our finance, to our struggles and to our goals. We had to ask ourselves, where was joy in all these things and what had to be changed to better see Gods beauty.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23
We realized a lot …but it wasn’t an overnight decision on changes we needed to make. This was months of conversations and prayer to see what God was asking of us, where God wanted us to be and be doing, and how God wanted us to be disciples. *This required patience!
Our life’s were filled with hurry! Our lives were filled with just too much that was not allowing Gods beauty to show because we were rushing through our days. So, we decided to make some BIG changes to our life the past few months. It hasn’t necessarily been easy to “do change” but we do feel God has been leading us to make these necessary changes. Sometimes dealing with hurry is as simple as deciding to slow down. Sometimes it means editing our schedules and removing half (if not more) of our responsibilities. Though we are still figuring a lot out with our days, what I have realized the most is… the things I “thought” were bringing joy to me, were actually things pushing me away from real joy, Gods beauty and grace!
Lord, Help me to turn to you more when I feel overwhelmed and remember that your beauty is right in front of my eyes daily. I pray for forgiveness when I fall weak in times of frustration. I thank you for this life I live and the life you have given me to be responsible for. You are so good, all the time and I thank You for Your patience with me. I know I need to live my days with more grace. I pray Adam and I can continue to live our lives to glorify you and that we do not hurry through our days. Amen.
~XOXO~ D
