last week i got called into the young women's.
i was shocked.
and it was bittersweet.
you see, i had just been called to be the nursery coordinator. and i kind of loved it to death and had expected to be there for a long, long while. and i couldn't believe i was leaving those sweet toddlers.
and since this is my fourth time serving in the yw i know a few things to expect.
like a small amount of time:).
and i've been a mix of peaceful and panicked.
and a planned weekly meeting at my house this week had me dusting bookshelves, and rearranging art, and organizing toy closets (cause you know someone might peer at our boardgames). and then i organized by master bedroom closet and my jewelry (all those fresh courage necklaces were a tangle on my shelf). and i bagged up three garbage bags of tim's clothes. and a couple boxes of stuff. because you know that is super necessary when playing a getting-to-know-you game in the basement. calm down crazy lady.
and i felt panicked as i feathered dusted by book tops. should i keep the twilight collection on my bookshelves or not? and what about shiver? will seeing it on my shelves lead the girls down the pathways of sin? and does my basement have enough character for them to think. . . "sister andreoli is totally awesome. did you see her dustfree collection of little house books? i can't wait until she teaches on sunday."
and this new shift/shuffle in my life has me thinking through my priorities again. and tomorrow skyler starts talking time. and some other things are going to have to give for now. good things. things i love.
and i read a little thought about balance (imagine several boxes all the same size).
" These boxes, are symbolic of the activities of one’s life, the various undertakings into which we must invest our time, talent, and energy. Our tendency is to try keeping them just this way—equally filled with identical amounts of ourselves and our effort. This, we think, is what balance looks like.But in reality, this is the picture of a woman overworked, frustrated, and exhausted. A life out of balance. The way we achieve balance, my dear, is to prayerfully consider God’s priorities for us in this current season of life, and then rearrange the boxes accordingly—pushing some of them into the background, bringing others to the front. Into these primary boxes we place the best of ourselves and our effort, while perhaps totally emptying some of the others—at least temporarily—not because they’re of any less overall significance but because they’re not where we need to be allocating the best of our abilities and attention for the time being.Balance is not when the boxes are equally filled but when we are free to fill only those that are important for now, without feeling guilt over the ones that we’ve left for another time and place. This is balance, little sister. Remember it.”--Priscilla Shirer, The Resolution for Women
you see i couldn't stop thinking about all the things i am not. and all the things i am not doing in my life. and if i'm not doing those things then how on earth am i going to add anything else? and a friend mentioned to me "you have been called for the gifts you do have. not for the gifts you don't have." (and then she assured me that my basement was just the perfect place to host the young women).
so, i'm going to focus on rearranging my boxes. and putting the very best of me, and the gifts i do posess into those boxes. and fill them up. to the brim. with sparkly things. and line up the others, behind. empty. for now.
“. . .she has intentionally taken those gifts onto battlefields where she knows she can’t win on her own, and where she believes that God is pleased to stand with her. And she gets to experience God. Not without struggle and scrapes and doubts. But at the end of the day her cheeks are flushed, her eyes are clear, and she has stories. She has unforgettable days with her Father on great mountains.” Just Courage, Gary Haugen
33. on the mountain.
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