I had three kids in tow, a pregnant belly, bags falling off my shoulders, and cupcakes balanced in one hand as I ran through the doors. I’m sure I looked more like a backpacker late for a train than an organized mom headed to homeschool day at the YMCA.  The kids had various classes. I had promised cupcakes for a birthday for one of the children. We had planned to do some school work while we waited in between lessons, and I hoped to fit in a workout. We were having lunch with friends. I had a Parents Ministry meeting to lead that evening, as well, and had brought the laptop along to work on the final slides in my spare moments.

It makes me dizzy just thinking about it. I was trying hard to keep it all together.  I loved all of those activities and commitments, but on that day I began to realize that it may just be a bit too much. I was trying to be too many things for too many people instead of just focusing on the priorities God had called me to… a first world problem I suppose.

We are taught we can be so many things, anything we want really. Women can reach for the stars and that is a beautiful thing, isn’t it? We can have a career, or stay at home with our kids. We can work part time. We can run marathons, write books, raise kids, share a loving marriage, enjoy girlfriend time, or anything else we set our minds to. The sky is the limit and we are free to pursue all of it, even on the same day if we desire.

Sometimes the freedom to be anything feels like a calling to be everything, though.

As moms, that often translates to saying “yes” to too many things, and balancing more than a circus performer. We juggle time with our husbands, car pools, homemade cupcakes, homeschooling or homework, jobs, house hold chores, dates with the kids, laundry, service, bible studies, Pinterest birthdays and holiday dinners. Phew! It’s exhausting looking at that very incomplete list, let alone actually carrying it out.

There is so much joy in these duties and moms truly live out the servant’s heart that Jesus asked of us. It can wear on us though and we so often feel like we can never truly let go. How often do you find yourself so burdened with ideas, tasks, and to-do lists, yet still trying to hold it all together?

Sometimes I envision busyness as a barrier between me and Jesus. Have you heard the saying, “If the devil can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy?”  The more I am carrying around, the less I seem to be able to unload and focus on Jesus.

Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” –Luke 18:25

A camel could not possibly fit through the eye of a sewing needle, so was Jesus saying that a rich man could never enter the kingdom of God? Most likely not.

City gates often had a small door built within the larger wooden door. This small door was called a “needle’s eye.”  In the evening, when the larger door was locked, people could enter the city through this smaller door. However, if a camel, carrying a heavy load, came to the city’s gate at this time, the only way it could enter through the “needle’s eye” was for the load to be laid down and for the camel to crawl on its knees through the door.  (V. G. Beers, The David C. Cook Journey through the Bible)

Perhaps Jesus was telling us that in order to enter the kingdom of God, we must lay down our riches and all the things that accompany that…our conveniences, our busyness, our control, our burdens…and crawl on our knees to Him.

If you are over burdened and carrying too many loads, remove the things that don’t line up with your God called priorities…God, Husband, Kids.

We can’t be everything and if we try, we may miss out on fulfilling His calling on our life.

The PTA can wait, store bought cookies for the team picnic will not force you to move, the kids being involved in less activities will not tank their future, the house does not have to be museum clean and all the other extraordinary pressures you put on yourself don’t have to be. We are not asked to be perfect…we can’t be. We are called to be vulnerable. We are called to humbly turn to Jesus.

Unload those burdens, mama, spend time on your knees, and suddenly the freedom of your calling will lift you to Him.

If you enjoyed this post, check out some of Brandy’s other writing…

http://www.brandyhynes.com/fighting-with-your-spirited-child/

http://www.brandyhynes.com/when-we-feel-were-not-enough-for-such-a-time-as-this/

http://www.brandyhynes.com/telling-my-children-the-truth-about-the-world-they-live-in/

http://www.brandyhynes.com/life-giving-words/

http://www.brandyhynes.com/restoring-your-marriage-stale-strong-or-buried/

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