Parenting In Faith“How Do We Juggle Everything on Our Plate”
By Donna Rayburn
I struggle with this question every day. Do you? When I am so busy day and night, life seems to be passing me by, and I don’t even realize it. How many times do you hear people say, “ I can’t believe it’s almost…” or “I can’t believe how time flies.” I think it is because we focus on our various tasks at hand (getting children to school and activities, ensuring our family is eating healthy meals, our house is clean and our laundry is done.) We don’t take the time to step back and enjoy what is happening right in front of us. God has given us amazing gifts, why aren’t we savoring them?Proverbs 13:7 says, “A pretentious, showy life is an empty life; a plain and simple life is a full life.”I know I am a violator of the “enjoy God’s gifts” and I know why. First, I want to give my children every opportunity to experience something that may be helpful or useful in their adult life, so I sign them up for everything, and second, I want to make people happy so I say yes, help, too much of the time. Sound familiar? What is right for our children? What does God want for us?I believe that those people who have honestly sought Christ and seek to honor Him in everything may be seen by some as a simple, boring person, quietly going about their business. They may not be up on the latest movies, the latest fashion trends, the latest political scandal. Yet, there is also something the mature Christian possesses that is admirable – a quiet contentment that seems unshakable, even under conditions where others might despair. How is that possible?The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, author Hannah Whitall Smith writes that the first two steps towards contentment are submission and obedience. Submission is simply recognizing that we are helpless without Christ, burdened by sin, and that this burden is lifted by faith in the forgiving power of Christ. To tame the self-centered person, we must admit to ourselves that everything that we work for is under the control of Christ. The blessings we have worked so hard to earn, our house, health, are not ours, but merely gifts. Obedience is a hard word for us because we are taught to “follow your dreams.”Some families thrive with packed calendars, and they still manage to live their lives to serve God, while some families feel they are living a simple life to serve our Lord. Have you thought about how you juggle your family and your relationship with God?Donna Rayburn is a local resident and mother of four children and author of I Accidentally… a story about her son’s kindergarten adventures. E-mail her at donna@ospreyobserver.com.
