Managing Momma Mondays: The Juggling Act

    When we used to live in Harvard Square (Cambridge, MA) you could find yourself walking past any number of street performers at any given time of day...musicians and artists, guys who would beat on plastic buckets with drumsticks, women who would paint your hands with henna for a small fee...some of my favorites were the jugglers and acrobats we'd see from time to time.

I've always loved to watch a professional juggler manage two and then three and then four, five, six seven balls...all without so much as seemingly breaking a sweat. 

I think I admire them because, well let's face it, that's a pretty cool thing to be able to pull out of your entertainment tool chest at a kid's birthday party!

But, even more than that I can hardly speak the word "juggle" without finding myself at least briefly considering what the word means on a practical level in my life.

Ahhh...to juggle it all gracefully and peacefully. 

That is where this momma gets into some trouble and needs a little help. 

Can you say anxiety, impatience, irritability, frustration, discouragement?

Not quite the fruits of the spirit, huh?

I'm going to have a total honesty moment with you here...if you had a chance to read my blog post from last Monday I told you that I was going to set goals in 7 areas of my life this year...It read like this...

I have seven key areas in my life that I am trying to bring some more order and structure too...that I would like to be a part of the blueprint of my life...they are as follows:

1. Spiritual
2. Writing/Professional
3. Physical/Health
4. Marriage
5. Parenting
6. Relational (family, neighbors, friends)
7. Home management

....and in all reality, I do need some structure in ALL of these areas of my life.

Then...

Then I sat down and started writing my goals. Then day to day life started coming at me like it always does-- just the normal stuff; the kids, the meals, the house, the running around, the commitments (mostly good ones!)...the stuff of life.

Then...I got really overwhelmed.

I started thinking, Lisa, you're nuts. You can't manage all of the stuff of life and add new goals or commitments...you can hardly manage what you have going on in your life right now. How are you going to improve yourself spiritually, professionally, physically, relationally, in your marriage and in your home all in one year...No. Stinkin'. Way. 

These are the conversations that go on in my mind...the little red guy and the little black guys sitting on my shoulder...Yes you can. No you can't. Yes you can. No you can't.

And so it goes...

And so I started to pray...

Oh my...the prayers were like a glass of water, after a run on a very hot day...I had been striving, running, chasing all sorts of things without the most necessary element...water from God via prayer.

 I have not been very consistent in my prayer time lately. December started off really well, and then life got REALLY busy (the irony of that gets me every year, but that's a whole other post all together!) and my prayers became fewer and fewer.

I wasn't praying for direction. I was staying up late and not getting up to read my Bible in the morning. I had forgotten, in my busyness to ask God for His input.

So, when I started praying on Saturday morning, after feeling like my thoughts were spinning and I was never going to gain control of my life again, God very graciously spoke to me very clearly. He said..

Lisa, my daughter, you are looking at this all wrong. You are right, it is quite overwhelming to stare at a list of seven different areas in your life to which you'd like to bring order and structure. You are also probably right to fear that left to your own devices this year will move by as quickly as the last and you will find yourself discouraged that yet again nothing has changed...


Instead of staring at seven potential areas of change I want you to look at one...Me. Pray more. Ask Me what plans I have for your life. Ask me to bring peace and order to your anxious heart. 


That verse came to mind. The one we sang in Bible camp when I was a young, insecure teenager...

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and HIS righteousness and all these things shall be added onto you... Hallelujah (Matt 6:33).

So, I am back at square one with one goal for this year. Pray more. Seek Him more. Ask more. Knock More...and I am certain that as I focus my energies upwards instead of outwards there might be hope for real change.

I am still hoping for change, progress, growth and some new structure in all of those areas, but I'm asking God for His take on it...daily.

Join me on Wednesday as I share a few thoughts about the importance and role of prayer in my life. There is nothing more important, and I'm SO inconsistent at times. And, so very thankful that HIS mercies are renewed every morning.



P.S. This is my first attempt at a "link-up"...If you've recently written a blog post about setting goals (or not setting them and why), or are working on finding other ways to become a better mom emotionally, spiritually, physically or practically speaking (household tasks, creative crafts, better time spent with your kids!), link up here and tell us about it!!!

Where it says "Link Title" please put the title of your blog and then your post title or an abbreviated version of it.