I’m really good at juggling, you know. But lately I seem to be dropping a few too many balls.
I remember when Symon and I were newly married—I was 18 (yes, I can hear your gasps of horror) and he was 21 years old. Life was exciting, full and busy. We pretty much lived and breathed youth ministry and church life day and night. Who cared about the dishes at home—sometimes they sat there for two or three days. We were carefree, young and had so much time on our hands. There were really only a few balls to juggle back then.
As you grow up and gain more responsibilities, more balls are added to the mix. People often ask me how I have the time to get creative making things and do baking regularly while having four kids and a crazy husband who sometimes acts like a fifth child (love you, honey). I’ve just learned to manage my time wisely. Until now.
Lately my dearest husband has had the habit of saying the most annoying phrase over and over at the most inopportune times. While I’m wailing about not having enough time to do this or that, make a certain meeting or finish a certain job and expecting to hear him offer some sort of sympathetic reply or even just a pat on the back, he’ll retort back to me “You don’t have to live this way” in a sing-song tone of voice that makes you grit your teeth in annoyance.
It really irks me because I know he’s right.
I often find it hard to say ‘no’ to people; I’m one of those silly people who will sacrifice my life away just to keep people happy. Sometimes it’s the right thing to do and sometimes it’s not.
Recently I read an article about learning to say ‘no’. It pointed out something I’ve never quite thought of before: when you say ‘no’, you aren’t necessarily being negative, you are just saying ‘yes’ to something else more important.
I have some very valuable ‘juggling balls’ in my life: My relationship with Jesus, my dearest husband, my darling children, my family and friends . . . and those opportunities that come up in life that you just know are divinely appointed.
Those are the kinds of balls that I don’t want to be dropping because the ‘meeting ball’ the ‘softie-order ball’ or the ‘I-don’t-want-to-make-them-feel-bad ball’ made the juggling act impossible to maintain.
I don’t ever want to be the person that walked past the wounded man because I just had too much to do. So I’m starting to learn how to juggle all over again, and this time I’m choosing my balls wisely.
- Darkness Like A Flood by Kristy Drake
- Selfless (In My Own Selfish Way) by Daniel Tattersall
- The Ones We Never Knew by Kristy Drake
- The Art of Thankfulness by Kristy Drake
- Love Hopes For the Best by Kristy Drake
- When Happiness Eludes by Kristy Drake
