It started last week.
One daughter’s weekly piano lessons
re-launched on Monday after a six-week hiatus…we began a new schedule for the
other daughter’s voice and guitar lessons on Tuesday…and we returned to dance
for both – one in ballet and the other jazz – on Wednesday. We also sit poised to
start up with their choir and drama classes on alternating Fridays in another
week. On top of all that, they have monthly Friday night gatherings with a small
group of same-aged girls, monthly Saturday night events for their tween group,
semi-monthly get-togethers with fellow tween/teen homeschoolers from church…and
babysitting jobs – not one or even two but three regular gigs.
That doesn’t include the
various ministries in which we all serve at church. Nor does it begin to take
into consideration the girls’ homeschool academics or my occasional outside activities…to
say nothing of my husband’s enterprises, which are so random and varied as to
defy any attempt at listing and classifying.
But the funny thing is that I
purposely aim to avoid over-commitment.
And even though the thought
of sailing hither and yon almost every day of the week for all of the above
makes me shudder at times, when I look more closely, I realize that most of my
girls’ activities are simply different expressions of a few of their interests.
So in the grand scheme, we’re not doing that much. It just so happens that I
have to play ship’s captain a lot in order to facilitate those relatively few
passions.
I know I’m not alone in the
busyness. Fact is, even when we purpose to keep a handle on outside activities,
the reality is that those of us with school-aged kids are simply in the midst
of a very full season of life. We can ameliorate it to some extent, but if we
hope to help our children discover who God has wired each to be, we have to
provide them with opportunities to explore various interests. And that
translates into some inevitable busyness.
But, of course, we can’t use
that as an excuse to sideline the most important things. Specifically, we must
choose to prioritize deep, abiding relationships with our spouses and children.
And even more than that, we must insist on holding ourselves accountable to
maintaining and strengthening our personal relationships with the Lord. If we
have those anchors, we can weather the storms of busyness. But if we attempt to
navigate through activity after activity without that relational ballast, we’ll
surely sink.
So before you get too far out
of the harbor this fall, pause and ponder. What are you doing to daily spend
meaningful time with God? How are you deepening your marriage relationship? Are
you connected to your kids or merely steering them around town? How are you
growing closer to Jesus as a family?
Once you get under way with
that, you’ll be ready to face even a gale-force wind of activity.
*****
No comments:
Post a Comment