I have a pet peeve. It's embarrassing to admit and will probably offend a couple people. I cringe when I hear "I don't have time." I have one particular relationship in my life where that statement has been uttered so many times I've stopped counting. It bothered me to the point where I started complaining about the people complaining about being busy.
Until....
I caught myself saying it last month (while hyperventilating....)
Was I busy? Yes. Did I have time? Yes. The trick to this statement is EVERYBODY has the same amount of time in their day. God has blessed each of us with 24 hours. Every one. Every day. From the Pope to my 5 year old. No more, no less. It is up to ME to decided how I am going to spend those 24 hours.
So I am trying something new. Instead of "I can't because I am too busy/don't have time," I am going to say,
"It's not a priority right now."
Ouch. That sounds selfish, but isn't how we spend our time a measure of our priorities? My pastor, Eli Morris, preached on this a couple weeks ago at The Stirring. He said, "Show me your bank statement and calendar and I'll tell you your priorities."
So. much. truth.
The great news about priorities is they change with seasons of your life!
There are going to be a lot of times that my boys are the number one priority BUT there are going to be times where they aren't and John is (hello date night!). And guess what...that's okay.
There are going to be times when work is my number one priority because of a big event or special project and my kids homework may not be reviewed or I may not have a lot of time to spend with John. And guess what...that's okay.
There are going to be times we can't go to a birthday party because we have church. There are going to be times when we can't make church because I have to work. And guess what...that's okay.
There are going to be times when I need to be with my girlfriends to laugh, cry, vent, gossip which means I am away from my family. You guessed it...that's okay.
Because not only to priorities change with seasons of life, they can change day to day.
But what I have to remember is I made the choice to have two kids. I made the choice to work full time with the position I have that requires more than 40 hours a week. I made the choice to be heavily involved in our church. I made the choice to put my kids (or not put my kids) in certain after school activities. I make the choice to work out 4-5 days a week.
At any point, I can change these things to 'make more time' (well, except for the two kids thing...I'm kinda stuck with these two messpots). The fact is, I don't want to change any of these things because they are all priorities. It's a priority for us to be heavily involved in church because John and I both have God given gifts we want to share with a ministry we both believe in.
It's a priority for me to work full time because I enjoy working. I love my school and my job AND (this isn't popular to say but) we want to continue to live in this house. Financially it's a priority (and sacrifice) to send the boys to SG...which means I work.
It's a priority for my boys to see me working out and staying healthy so they understand this God given vessel is a gift and I need to treat it that way.
I probably won't be saying "It's not a priority" out loud just yet, but in my head, before I commit to anything, it will be put through this filter. I truly believe this is going to prevent burn out and all that hyperventilating I was doing last month.
But most of all, I hope I never have to utter "I'm too busy" again because these boys deserve a mom who isn't stretched too thin.
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