Monday, August 1, 2011

Starting the New School Year

This morning is our first day of school and I am very excited! The kids? Well, I think they are excited about new stuff, but not real excited about it being school. I got up early, had my quiet time and headed to the gym. (I really haven't been there all summer.) At 7:00am I woke up the kids with a beautiful "First Day of School Song". No one seemed to appreciate it, but they are up and starting their morning routines regardless.

At the beginning of the year Jon and I made the decision to slow down so we would have less stress. We were stressed out beyond our limits and we felt God telling us to back off a little. Well, I wasn't really experiencing the "less stress" feeling. That was until last week when I looked over my calendar from last August (2010). It was shocking to me. How did we manage that kind of schedule? Out of 31 days in August we had something (not counting school) going on for 30 days. No wonder we couldn't keep our heads above water! I look at the calendar for this August (2011) and so far we have 15 days with absolutely nothing going on and it is my goal to not let too many of those slip away.

There are stresses in my life that I cannot avoid. Trying to maintain a healthy marriage, discipling my children the way God wants, keeping up with household duties, homeschooling, maintaining relationships, family drama, and taking care of family health issues. It makes me tired just reading the list. Were we really meant to be under this amount of stress?

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."   Matthew 11:28-30

This is what I am meditating on this morning.