Juggling Ministry (or Work) and Family

Here is a perfect example of juggling ministry and family.  This is Rocket Boy posing as a bug while I ran errands on my way to church one night.  We were mixing business with pleasure, in a manner of speaking.  This picture also illustrates how you can feel when trying to juggle too many things at once --
a little bug-eyed...

I wish I could give you some magic formula that would instantly make it easier to manage a home while working or being in the ministry.  The truth is, I cannot.  It is hard.  You learn to be efficient and to manage your time well.  Then you learn to be more efficient and manage your time even better.  Then you realize that months and even years have gone by since your last day off.  That can be a reality check.  Then you learn to rest as you go.  That is when you begin to find balance.

So that is the real key -- balance.  It is tricky to find and even trickier to keep, but when you do, everyone benefits.  Contrary to what the world would have us believe, we really don't have to "do it all" all the time.  Balance will allow you to flow through the seasons of your life, your week and your day with grace.  Balance will give you peace when your current season has you working more and cleaning less.  Or when you are baking all day, but the laundry isn't done, or you've just had a baby and nothing is getting done.  Balance will remind you that it is only a season, not a lifetime, and seasons change.  The things that aren't getting done right now will get done -- eventually.  But right now, you need to focus on something else.

Balance will also keep you focused on the truly important things -- the eternal things.  Your spouse and children are eternal.  In 10,000 years, what you put into them will still matter. Whether the taxes got filed by April 15 or you had to file an extension will not (shhh, don't tell the government.  It would devastate them to know the truth.)  No one will remember whether the dishes got done right away, or not.  (Well, let me clarify.  If you rarely manage to get the house cleaned up, they will remember.  As teenagers, they will be embarrassed to bring their friends over and once they marry they will tell stories to their spouse about how messy the house was when they grew up.  You wouldn't want that, now, would you?  It wouldn't be balanced...)

The point is, if we learn to recognize the seasons when they come we will be less likely to feel so much pressure to "do it all".  There are seasons to work hard, seasons to play with your kids, seasons to organize the attic and seasons for other things.  It can be tempting to try to live in all the seasons at once, but it never seems to work out like we planned.  What if winter and summer tried to hit at the same time?  The summer crops would die in the fields. Everything would be out of kilter and we would all suffer.  How much better for the harvest to be gathered before the winter hits.  Balance.  Everything works better that way.

Have a great (and balanced) day!

Angela