Several years ago, I picked up a little purple book at our local book fair. I love the color purple. I liked that the book was small and looked readable. And the price was right. $4. I took it home and began to read and it was as if I was reading my own journals and dialogues with the Lord. "The Too Busy Book" by Linda Anderson sang my song. This tiny coffee table style book gave me "permission" to slow down. To breathe. To take time out to enjoy the simple things in life. To major on the majors and minor on the minors. That is indeed where I first dubbed my life motto, "First things first." I began a journey of discovering Jesus in the quiet places of life. In the stillness. Something about a still, small voice...oh yeah, HIS VOICE! If my life is constantly full of clamor, clatter and chatter, how will I ever hear His sweet (still, small) voice?
God is not in a hurry. If we are made in His own image, then why are we in such a hurry? Prior to reading Linda's book, whenever someone would ask me, "How are you," I'd almost always respond with, "Busy." Or, "Tired." Somewhere along the way, I equated being busy with being holy. Consider it for a moment...If churches are all about committees, small groups, choirs, clubs, leadership seminars, etc...don't we start to believe that is what makes us better Christians? At the time, I was leading a small group. In order to be a small group leader, I had to also be in another group for my own discipleship. If the same applied to my husband (and the groups were gender specific, so we were not attending the same group), that could mean 4-8 nights a month that we'd be apart. Hmmm...along with that came our regular Sunday morning duties, etc. We had the boys in private Christian school, so we had the schedule to keep with bus routes, homework, sports and extra activities. We would have 1-2 nights a week at home together. I longed for the tables to turn so that we were away only 1-2 nights a week...
Two years ago we decided to take the plunge and home school. This month we began our third year of home schooling. Somehow the past few months turned busy again and I long to get back to a slower paced lifestyle again. Back to the basics. It's time to make first things first and say "Good bye" to the things that clutter our lives and drain us.
In order to keep balance, we follow the "1 for 1" rule...If we take on a new activity/commitment, then we get rid of an old one. This rule works, but only if we are serious about keeping it in place. This year, the boys are not playing soccer for the private school they once attended. (Believe me, this is a tough one, especially for D. He has been a volunteer coach for the school for five years. Just prior to turning in his notice, he was offered the coaching position for the older kids' team. He felt awful calling the athletic director and declining that position while resigning the other one. However, his loyally must be to our family FIRST, not to anyone else.) Instead of playing soccer, we plan to use Tuesday nights to take them to a local park where they will initiate a pick up baseball game. They have done this a few times already and it has been amazing to see how well it has gone. They get to meet other kids from the community (from all kinds of backgrounds and walks of life), D gets to be in charge and ref the attitudes of the players, they get plenty of exercise and improve on their skills. I may have presented this idea to D initially, but I know it was a "God idea," and I believe it will yield much fruit in our lives.
Secondly, we are completing our one year commitment with the local 4 H chapter and beginning a local home school co-op. When we first brought the boys home, we had been invited to join several co-ops, but I really did not feel drawn to do that at the time. Bringing the boys home, simplifying, slowing down and finding our identity as a family was all that I wanted. I knew that the boys would always have friends and make new ones everywhere we'd go, but I wanted them to learn to be each other's best friends. That is one of the most profound beauties of home schooling. Family is everything. Friends come and go. Brothers are friends forever. While my boys enjoy having friends over, they rarely ask to have a guest, they are just content being together. This year we will add co-op to see how that fits into our lives. I am excited about it, but if it ever distracts from our goals of keeping life simple, then we will reevaluate. I feel that this year will be one of growing and learning and I am ready to jump into the new things we've chosen.
I am not a rat on a wheel. I refuse to let society, individuals, a church or a norm tell me that being busy is what's best for me. I know that I must have time each and every day to sit. To rest. To nap. To call a dear friend. To do nothing at all...and it's not ungodly to do so! Oh, to be a Mary in a Martha world...I am learning...I am learning!
No comments:
Post a Comment