Finding Balance In All the Weights of Your Life

My life has taken an interesting turn in the last 2 months. I’ve taken a full time job outside the home. I myself was very surprised by this, because I intended to only take on another part time job, (I already have one part time, outside the home, job.) but God had other plans. Every step of the way, He showed that He was leading. It was really wild, and a bit nerve-wracking, but I trusted Him… most of the time.

I knew that I needed to take on a part time job to help out with finances. My previous job had ended, (not in a bad way!) and I really wasn’t interested in pursuing that type of work again, so… I worked from home, and on my blog, and I still had one part time job, but finances were tight. A company I was very interested in was opening in my area, and although I applied for only a part time position, God turned it into a full time position with some managerial responsibilities.

I love it, and I love the company. I am challenged by it, which is fun. But I come home tired, physically, and mentally, and am still seeking to find the balance in all that is in my life at this time.

I still want to be a committed & faithful blogger.
I want to be a competent employee in my new position.
I want to be good at my continued part time job, that I have been employed at for almost 20 years.
I especially want to be a good wife, mother, grandmother, and friend to all of the ones I love in my personal life.
Most of all, I want to keep Christ first and centered in all the areas of my life.

Life has a way of throwing more life at you than you sometimes bargained for. How do you balance it all? I don’t really know! I’m still seeking that answer myself!

But this is what I am finding out again in this current season of my life with these new and different weights bearing down on me and my time….

God of course, needs to be first. He needs to be kept fully in the loop, and in the center of all that I do.

He is the one who set me up in this new position; the one that is taking so much of my time and energy right now. I know this because He kept rolling out the path right in front of me, and giving me very personal reassurances that He knew I would fully recognize as being personal, from Him to me. 🙂 So, recognizing and acknowledging these ‘signs’ helps me to be fully persuaded that I am on the right path, and that I will eventually find the balance, as long as I am prayerfully & continually seeking it in Him.

There is a verse that I read in my Bible devotions the other day that I have repeated to myself over and over since I read it. I have heard it before, but it struck me yesterday in a more personal way, for the balancing act I find myself in. It is in Isaiah 30:21 “And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee saying ‘This is the way, walk ye in it,’ when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.”

This verse sums up the way I have felt over the last couple months. That God has just set my course, and moment by moment kept my feet on the path He has laid out for me. I’ve heard that sweet inner whisper that prodded me in the right way. And even when I started to get ahead of God on one occasion, God just gently reigned me back in saying in effect… “Whoa girl… wait for me to plot the path for you.” And He did! Exceeding abundantly above all I could ask or think!

He is a Good Good Father!
So, I really want to be a good good daughter. One way I want to do that is by keeping the balance in all these “weights” on my life.

God first and foremost. All I do in my life, I want to do to bring Glory to His name.

Wife second, but thankfully, I have the full blessing of my husband as I adjust to these time consuming new areas of my life. He is even doing a lot more cooking than at any other point of our marriage.. which is interesting, haha. And, we both have a committed goal of being free of debt in the next couple of years, so we can begin to contemplate retirement without the burden of debt in our way. So, we are on the same page in this. Although part of the balancing act is finding time together to do some of the things we enjoy doing.

Mother and Grandmother come in next on the priority list, but since my children are all grown, this is not an every day weight. Just finding time in the schedule for the important dates and experiences. Returning phone calls, and texts, and checking in as often as I can to let them know I am still constantly thinking about them. They were all happy and excited for this new chapter in my life, so they have been very understanding and supportive. In fact, I think they are all kind of “proud of me” in a turn about sort of way. Just like when I started a website and blog, this new position is very different for me, and I think they are surprised with the new horizons mom is pursuing. That alone makes it more fun, haha! To show them I’m not done with life yet, lol.

Seriously though, my biggest role in my children’s everyday lives right now is to support them through prayer. This is what I consider my most important mom job and grandma job right now. Of course, I do love having Grandma time with the grandchildren, even if its a little more limited right now.

Work time is important and it is a priority to do a good job, and give it my all. There is always a learning curve with a new job or any new experience, so it is challenging. God is still leading the way, and every week, I’ve had time for everything I needed to do. I have had to stay focused on my week as a whole, fitting in all the tasks I need to get done, and being diligent to do them in the times allotted. My days are full, and I am weary at the end of them. But I am happy, and fulfilled knowing I am growing and being challenged to do new things.

Blogging has been the variable in the last 2 months, and so, I let it slide a bit. This is the first post I’ve written in a while, as I have been adjusting to this intense new schedule. I haven’t been as present on social media for Shadowing Enoch in a while. I hope to find the balance with this soon, but I do know I want to glorify God on the blog as well. Interestingly, although I’ve not been as present on social media, or especially on Pinterest, I have found that my organic blog views have grown while my pinterest views and stats have fallen, of course. But all in all… I’m still doing about the same level as before… so, that is a God thing, I believe, to encourage me to keep on blogging! I have personal goals for Shadowing Enoch, that I believe are God-given. I will continue to strive to reach those goals because they are about sharing God’s message of Love and Forgiveness with a fallen world.

None of these responsibilities that I am currently in the midst of are earth-shattering… really quite the opposite. They are normal responsibilities of life.

Well, maybe blogging isn’t a norm for most people. I’m definitely not a proficient blogger by any means… but I do enjoy having this outlet to try to be a witness and hopefully, a shining light of the Faith that I profess. It is a joy of mine to have people view my blog from all over the world, and my chief goal in that is to shout from the mountaintops what Jesus has done for me in my 45+ years of walking with Him. I am so thankful that I will spend Eternity in fellowship with Him! I hope you will too, and if this blog helps you on that road, I am more than happy with this endeavor of blogging. God be praised!

Beyond the blogging, I am just doing normal average life things. But when you add more, there is always a balancing act to be done. I am not a type-A personality… again, quite the opposite. For me, the balancing is always a juggling act for a while. Things get dropped. Fall to the sidelines. This is what I am experiencing now.

The one thing that it is most important for me to not drop… is my time with God. He is the source of my strength. He is the One who grounds me and gives me wings to soar. In all of the other areas of my life, God is the one who must increase, and I must decrease. That is how I will bring glory to His name, and show my gratitude for all He has done for me.

My marriage will be stronger if He is in the center.
My mother-hood and grandmother roles, and even friendship roles, will be more loving & influential if I am pointing all those I love to Jesus.
My job performance will be more exceptional if He is really the One I am working for.
My life and all the pieces of it will come together more completely if I let Him lay the path out in front of me.

My ultimate goal in balancing all these things is to listen for and hear those gentle but strong, confirming words, “This is the way, walk ye in it.”

Adding that verse to one of my all time favorites, “Jesus said, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6) adds up to a pretty balanced life, in my opinion.

Jesus is the Way I choose to always walk in. All the way Home to Heaven.