Down Time

So I am a wife, a mother, a PTO board member and classroom volunteer, our church's part-time secretary and the bookkeeper for my husband's small business. These things generally keep me pretty busy but there are usually few moments midday when my 3 year old is napping and the boys are at school when I can take a deep breath and do something that allows my mind and body to relax. Something that accomplishes nothing for any of my roles or responsibilities. A little down time, if you will.

This last week has all but obliterated these little pockets of time in my day- what with all the Christmas shopping, gift wrapping, Christmas concert watching, class party attending. And losing my down time has taken its toll. I have been pretty short-tempered with the kids these days. The mental and physical stress has taken its toll. While I am trying to maintain a peaceful and meditative composure as we approach Christmas, all the little things that are still undone creep in and wreak havoc with my emotions from time to time.

All this has reinforced my recent decision to be more thoughtful and careful with the commitments I make. At the beginning of this school year, I decided not to take on the class mother role for either of the boys' class and had stepped down from teaching in our church's Sunday School last spring in attempt to lighten my load. As much as I struggled with those decisions, I am grateful for having made them. I have learned I need to reserve my energy for my family and if I am stretched to the max with outside commitments, they get my leftovers, which are often not too tasty.

If I am going to be an effective and godly wife, mother, worker and volunteer, I know I need to allow myself time each day to put all those things on hold, slow down and relax. I know I need to continue to seek the Lord as I make decisions about my commitments. I have learned much about how He made me in these past year and about how to honor the way I was made. I recognize that this down time one of the things I need to fulfill my God-given potential and to rob myself of it is to disrespect God's plan for me and eventually opens the door for sinful patterns of behavior that I have been working to overcome!