Balance

I've been spending a lot of time just being busy lately. It seems like I'm always living in one extreme or the other, never really finding that balance between being busy and being lazy. Don't get me wrong, I have really enjoyed having something to do every night, but it recently took a toll on me. My body reacted pretty violently to my never-ending routine, forcing me to stay home Monday and just rest. I never call in. Ever. I even came into work when my cornea was split open and had little sight out of my eye. I never want to be an inconvenience to anyone, so calling in is typically out of the question.

This is where I believe much of my problem lies. I am a people-pleaser. Almost to the extreme. We have had some new ladies join our small group recently, and I have wanted to make sure that they feel welcome in our group. So I have made it my goal to take each of them out for coffee individually. I have also made a few other friends along the way who are not in our small group, and I have wanted to make time for them as well. This means I need to make sure that as much of my schedule is as "flexible" as possible. I use that term loosely because something always has to give when I am flexible. Recently, this has been my homework. I've been finding myself up at 3am Monday morning finishing my paper that is due Monday evening. I don't feel too bad about it because I do well on my papers and make great grades, but this is just added stress to my life that could be eliminated by demanding that one night a week be devoted to writing my paper.

Well, as you may have already guessed, being so busy has taken away some much needed time with Jesus. I found myself asking "What happened?" when I was home on Monday. It seems like this busy-ness has hit me out of nowhere, and I am now scrambling to figure out how to slow myself down. I love that I get two hours of quiet time at work everyday, but I know I have been slacking in the amount of time I've been spending praying, listening, and reading the Word because I've been trying to get all of my homework done in that time as well.

I was listening to a sermon on Monday by Perry Noble, and (surprise, surprise) he was talking about being too busy. I posted this on Facebook, but it has really stuck with me all week. "In the Bible God calls those who will not work lazy, but He calls those who will not rest disobedient." I need to make sure that I am taking a Sabbath every week. This is for my spiritual and mental well-being!

Now to do some homework... :)