I read an article a friend shared a week or two ago, and I found an "Aha" quote. I loved it, times ten, but I felt conflicted sharing it because the article was about stay-at-home moms. I hate delving into the Mommy Wars, particularly stay-at-home vs. working, mainly because I've done both and I know that both are equally difficult. The common denominator in both is "mother", and THAT is the hard part. Anyways, that is a different topic and I don't want to go down that tangent.
Now, if at all possible, please unpack all that you've just read so that you don't read into the implication that I am in any way saying that the following quote applies to the stay-at-home vs working argument. It doesn't. I mean, in the article it does, but for the purpose of this post it does not. Okay? Okay. Back to the quote:
We seem to value our time so little, that we find our worth based on how little of it we have. In other words, we’ve idolized “being busy,” and confused it with being “important.” You can be busy but unimportant, just as you can be important but not busy. ~ Matt Walsh
Absolutely!
As a mom of three littles, I can tell you that I don't have a lot of down time. Like, at all. Last week, I started getting sick. When Mommy's sick, the house falls apart. Heck, when Mommy's NOT sick, the house falls apart around here. Ha! There is always something to do. Somebody needs water, milk, cheerios, nap, wiped, medicine, clean underwear, bath, story read, help with homework, clothes changed, driven to soccer, etc., etc., rinse and repeat. While I would not change any of it for the world, I assure you that the responsibility weighs heavy on me some days. My busy is in the mundane. I know it is all important, though. Shaping young ones is important. Some days I wonder how good I'm really doing, though. And that's where God's grace picks up, Amen!
Outside of the messy and mundane busyness, I throw more busy on my pile from all kinds of other places (with good intentions of course). It gets to the point that I don't even have time to think about allowing myself to be used where God wants me because I don't have the time to stop there and get to all the other places I'm supposed to be. Why do we do this to ourselves? I'll tell you why.....our society and our country put value and worth on how much we have on our to do list each day. When there are days where I don't have anything going on (outside of the mundane), I feel guilty about it. What is that about? Mornings (like today) when I sit and type are turned into what I shoulda woulda coulda been doing with my time. Such is the American life.
When I was preparing to go to Costa Rica two years ago (Two years???), I researched life in Costa Rica. Many people from the US retire in CR because of its laid-back nature. Some from the US can not handle CR, though, because it is too far from the norm of their lives in the States. In CR, if you ask someone to come to your house to fix something (or whatever) and they tell you they'll be there "mañana", it could be tomorrow when you see them, but it will most likely be the next day, or the next day, or the next week. Things are just not in a hurry down there. It's called "Tico Time". Days that are full of opportunities. Days that are full of ways to be used for God's Glory. Days that are nothing like a day in the life of an American. We have convenienced ourselves to the point of expecting immediate gratification and immediate results with every single area of our lives, including our relationship with God. If we can't have a prayer answered right now, then we'll just figure out how to make it work ourselves. That works SO well, doesn't it? We fill up every single minute of our waking hours (and sometimes hours that should be reserved for sleeping) with stuff, worldly stuff, and none of it will make a hill of beans by next week, let alone tomorrow.
While being too busy plagues all of us sometimes, it should never plague us ALL of the time. I know too many people like that. There is no room in their life for one ounce of spontaneity or deviation. I have been trying my best to not let that happen to me, but at times, I end up there. How can God use me if I'm not freed up a little more, though? You are not important (even though you may feel that way) just because you are strung out way too thin. The number of items on your to do list does not define your worth. The lack of items on your to do list does not define your worth. If it is not eternal, it is not important. Period.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to feed a child lunch, pick a child up from school, pick another child up from another school, take a child to her dance Halloween party, come home and get ready for a soccer game, get home, feed kids, bathe kids, put kids to bed, crash. Rinse and repeat.
I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. ~ Ecclesiastes 1:14
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. ~ Colossians 3:1-3
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