Busy Life

What a week! I think I say that just about every week these days. I used to think, “when I get through this busy season, I’ll be able to take care of …” I realized a few years ago that I never really finished one busy season of life before another one had already started. So many times, they often overlapped or even piled on one after another until I finally realized that these busy seasons are just a part of my life now. I find myself currently right in the middle of one of those seasons. The chaos that comes from having three kids who are all heavily involved in extra-curricular activities (I could write an entire book about this one), a husband who is about to be gone hunting every day for the next 60 days (again, another book), my co-directing our biggest annual school production this Thursday and Friday, the holidays just around the corner - all this while juggling the opportunities and responsibilities on a daily basis that have come along with our family’s recognition due to Duck Dynasty. So many people ask how I do it. There is only one answer: my focus on God, his son and the sacrifice that was given for me. Not only does He give me focus every day, but because of his Holy Spirit living inside of me, I am able to listen to his guidance. If I listen to him, lean on him, depend on that relationship I have with him, I start to see things as He wants me to see them. And some of those things I planned on doing don’t seem very important anymore. Being a planning-type person, I tend to get stressed when things don’t go according to my plans. If I lost my focus, I would crumble in the stress of trying to accomplish each and every one of those plans. God has a plan for me. My plan may not be His plan. I must learn to give up my control, empty myself, and listen to Him. Easier said than done, right? It’s a daily struggle.

Right now, I am reading the book of John, a chapter each day. John’s account of Jesus on this earth gives me an insight to the human nature of God that we would never know without John’s words. John 1:1-2 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” The Word is Jesus. Did you realize that Jesus was with God in the beginning? Before the world was ever created? Genesis 1:26 says, “Let us make man in our image…” It says, “us”. Who was God talking about? God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Even before time began for us, Jesus was there. All that time, as the world was being created, as people were being created, Jesus knew what he would one day have to do for mankind, for me. Yet, he and his Father created us anyway, knowing we would fall. Knowing he would choose to die for us. What true love is this!

So this week, when you feel stressed or defeated because you couldn’t do it all. Remember, God is there for you. He always has been there, from the very beginning. He knows you better than you know yourself. Reach out to him. Pray for peace, for endurance, for wisdom. Choose what is best for your family, for you, to serve Him. You’ll soon find out that some of the things you’ve planned to do aren’t as important as they once were. And the things that are important will be much more successful.

Have a great week!