I am writing this for the benefit of all of my friends who have had to listen to me complain lately about my schedule and how I can possibly make it better. Rod and I have explored every option from me changing jobs (not an option - I love my job) to moving to town (not an option - we love our acreage). None of them have seemed like the right answer. I have been praying like crazy asking God what I'm supposed to do and I'm sure he was quietly answering but in typical Cris style I couldn't hear him until he used a bullhorn.
I have an almost nightly tradition of taking 30 minutes in the tub to read some sort of inspirational book. It seems the bathroom with a locked door is about the only place I can find any privacy! Lately I've been reading "breathe - creating space for God in a hectic life". This is an excellent book for us busy moms. Anyway, often each chapter speaks to me on a different level. Wed was an especially trying day for me and I climbed into the tub feeling like the chance of slowing down was hopeless. I started reading the chapter "Reassurance - For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." I reached a part of the chapter that said . . .
Many people want to slow down, so they make dramatic, sometimes costly, changes in their lifestyles. But hurry, at its root, is not about lifestyle or where you live. It's about how you think and how you perceive the world. You can rearrange the externals of your life in a radically different way, but you always take your thinking with you. If you are a hurried, rushed person in the city you'll also be a hurried, rushed person in the country. This is good news. That's because many people can't make huge lifestyle changes. YOU LIVE WHERE YOU DO AND SOMETIMES CIRCUMSTANCES PREVENT YOU FROM MAKING A RADICAL MOVE. If you are the parent of a baby and a toddler that's who you are; you can't change this fact (although circumstances will change as the children grow). But if you're a hurried, rushed parent with a baby you'll eventually be a hurried, rushed parent of a teenager. THE TRICK IS TO CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK. That's where the good news comes in. It is possible to change the way you think.
This may seem like a "well, duh" way of thinking to many of you, but for me it was an epiphany. I have a tendency to run around full of stress and think about how much more relaxed I'd be if I changed externals in my life. The truth is, I have to start by changing how I view my day to day life. The only thing that's rushing my day is me, and the only one who can slow it down is me. Hope you learned something from my "lesson of the day" and I'll keep praying for all of you if you'll keep 'em comin' for me!!
10 years ago
