Life has been so busy...I mean, SO busy! We keep saying that after "this" project or "this" event that life is slowing down, or that nothing is planned....RIGHT! Mark & I have always been busy, always filling up our schedules, even before we met. It's fun and we really enjoy doing things for the church, getting together with friends old & new and just keeping life spontaneous. There is a time or point though that you just have to ask yourself, has being busy taken over our lives? I think the answer for us would be yes...if we're being honest with ourselves.
Ministry life.....is crazy, challenging, unpredictable, time-consuming, joyous, rewarding, frustrating, misunderstood, unconventional and wonderful! The thing to remember is that God established family before he established the church and unfortunately this "life" often blurs the lines of work/recreation, work/busyness, work/friendship & even work/family. This probably doesn't make much sense to anyone that is not or has not been in ministry work. I wouldn't change our calling because I know that God knows what's best! I do however want to be aware when we let our job or calling consume us in an unhealthy way.
As I look ahead to our soon changing family, I feel so compelled to re-prioritize our life as the Whitakers. Ministry is great-it's what we're called to; traveling is great-it's one of the things we really love; extended family is great-they are our history and heritage, supporting & loving; friendship is great-helps keep us balanced and gives us perspective...outside of growing in Christ and listening and obeying what God specifically asks of us, none of these should take away from our family though, the soon to be 4 of us!
I've never been big on "New Years Resolutions". If something is out of order in my life, why wait, let's deal with it now, so this is my challenge to myself - for my husband and children. Keep life in perspective. Deal with issues in grace and love and when they are current, don't try to wait for the perfect moment. Don't rationalize and make reasons for why it's okay to take this or that on as long as my family is there...no that's not giving them my best. Actually, it's often only giving them my left-overs and when life gets so hectic, it almost always means I'm giving God my very last left-overs. Priorities are so hard to get right, but so easy to keep life going smoothly when they are where they need to be!
If I follow my current trend..... ;) I may not blog again until after Christmas.
If that's is true then I want to say this now, my hope for all my family & friends is that Christmas will be a celebration of the life God has given you, the people God has placed in your life and the hope and future that only He can bring! Merry Christmas!!
