GOD Has Called Us To An Abundant Life

I’ve felt guilty at times over the years for not doing more, for myself or the kids. Not going to play dates, volunteering at....I-have-no-idea-what-events-I-just-hear-mama's-talking-about-volunteering, going to the gym, not being involved in 4H or a Co-Op, going on field trips, participating in sports…..budget plays a huge part of that, but most of it is just my personality and I can’t handle it. I get so overwhelmed and tired when we have a lot of extra stuff going on. Even if it's really fun or educational. 

When I get overwhelmed and tired, it starts to affect our home. 

And that's not okay with me. 

Pretty sure my husband and kids would agree with that. 😄

But guess what? It's okay to not do all that extra stuff. I don't need to feel guilty for saying no to some service opportunity if it's what I need to do to serve my family the best. I will say that there *is* a time and a place to put someone else ahead of you and your family. I'm not talking about giving up family time to take someone a meal or help someone who is sick clean their home. Or canceling plans so your husband can go help someone who is having car trouble. No, I'm talking about saying "no I won't take on the task of organizing the community BBQ because it will take weeks of planning". Things like that. 

It is *totally* okay to stay at home most of the time. For some people it works for them. We are one of them. Just the other day I was telling someone that I usually go grocery shopping on Saturday's or Monday's, but otherwise we are usually at home. For a split second I thought "wow. We are sooo boring!! Sheesh." My next was "why is that boring? It's what is best for us and that's okay."

I feel my job is IN my home. Doesn’t mean you can’t do all those things extra curricular stuff, but for me, staying home is a good thing. I don’t need to feel like I need to be busy outside the home for the sake of doing things or so that I can sound “cool” to say “I’m just so busy!" I've seen and heard mama's do this. They sigh and talk about alllll the things they are doing, then complain that they have no time to do things with their family or to catch up on things at home. All the while sounding like they are quite proud of how busy they are. And they don't feel like they can cut anything out. It's not what the world says. But what does God say?

I just finished listening to a Podcast from Risen Motherhood and I heard this great quote toward the end. "GOD has called us to an abundant life. Not a harried, busy life."

Wow.

What if we focused on being a living sacrifice at home? If we focused on serving, ministering,  discipling, sharing the gospel with our children, living out the gospel in front of our husband and children, and, of course, the oh so important character training?

If you're feeling overwhelmed or too busy, schedule a time to talk to your husband and ask for his advice and help in paring down your schedule. Don't feel bad to quit some activities if you need to. Don't be afraid to "just stay home". It's really not a bad thing. And if you're able to tackle extra activities and lead an abundant life, that's amazing!!!! If you can't, take a step back and see what you can do to solve this so you can have more time for an "abundant life. Not a harried, busy life."