I can do all things….Just not at the same time.
Since I was young, my favorite verse has always been:
Philippians 4:13
“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
It carried me through tests and drama club auditions, it was my go to verse when I felt that I was completely inadequate for the task ahead. That hasn’t changed.
Every day I feel inadequate for the task ahead. Every day it is only by His grace that I, and my children, make it through alive. More and more I am having to run triage on our home and on our family, determining what things are most important and what things I can let slide; and sometimes I mess up.
The things that seem the most important at THAT moment, by the end of the day I can see that they weren’t. Sometimes it’s easier to just get the kids fed and on to the next thing, so I can tidy up and get something done, instead of sitting them all down to read devotions. The days we take that 2 minutes to read a verse and pray together usually end up better than the days we don’t.
It’s hard for me to remember that though: To remember what is truly important in our home.
I already know that in the coming months I’m going to have an even harder time remembering that I have to put our priorities in order, because I am already overwhelmed. We are starting our homeschooling journey with our oldest, while our 3.5 year old triplets run rampant, and a 3 month old clings to my neck (please pray for me…I’m scared to death of messing things up!)
I can do all things that Christ has asked of me, by His strength, but I can’t do His tasks and mine. By my own strength we’re just going to end up a mess living in a house that still isn’t clean and everyone has a bad attitude, with Jesus patiently sitting at the kitchen table saying, “Are you done yet?”
What can I do to rely on His strength and focus on His to-do list rather than my own?
- Try to eek out even just 5 minutes of quiet time a day to read His word and pray, whether morning, noon, or night (I’ve been using the “First5” app on my phone).
- Commit to doing devotions with my children, even for just a few minutes a day.
- Determine what things in our home absolutely need to be done in order for us to function and mommy not lose her mind: Perhaps dinner planned ahead, dishes washed, etc…
- Decide what things create havoc in our home (fights over TV/iPad time) and remove them.
- Make Christ the center by inviting Him into our day.
Will this work perfectly all the time? No, but hopefully we’ll have more good days than bad, even if only by one. Days in which we are glorifying Him and not ourselves.
If we are earnest in our desires to pursue God, to raise children who know and love him, then everything else will either fall into place or fall to the wayside, and He will give me the strength to be OK with that.
