Monday Musings

It's a new day, a new week. We had a productive weekend--the weather held out on us, and we got a good deal of painting done. I hope to finish the north side of the house by the end of the week, and we'll probably tackle the south and east sides next weekend. If all continues to go well, we estimate we should be able to finish by the end of the month. Robert was a wonderful man and volunteered to take the hottest parts of the day, so it was only in the high 90s when I was painting. He also took Tiernan and did my weekly grocery shopping for me while I was painting so that I wouldn't have to do that this week. Isn't he amazing?

In Brady's sermon at church, one thing that stood out to me was when he talked about how it is no accident that we are exactly where we are in our stage of life. There have been times that I felt like my life as a housekeeper, wife, and mother in Austin jumped on me while I wasn't looking. Sure, we're living the American dream, but the American dream was never my dream. Yet here I am. My take-away is this: God has placed me here with a purpose, so what am I doing to fulfill that role? Am I being faithful with the time, talents, and treasures he has given me to steward? Am I living in anticipation of Christ's coming, mindful that it could be soon or delayed?

As I think about how I disperse my time, talents, and treasure, I face the issue of finding the balance between giving a task everything I've got and sustainability. I could do a lot more than I am, but I would also burn out and then spend a period of time not doing anything. However, when I am living a sustainable lifestyle balancing missional living, work, fun, and rest, I often feel like I'm slacking. It's true. I could be doing more. But could I keep it up? Probably not. Which is better? Bursts of energy, or consistency? I've done the burst-mode, and right now, I'm swinging the other way to sustainability.

They make it all worth it...

Painting and Priorities

The house painting has officially begun...and already ground to a halt due to the weather. I did get a couple hours of painting in yesterday while Kristen watched the Little Man. Thanks, Kristen! I am regretting that we did not start the process earlier in the year so the heat wouldn't have been quite so bad, but you live and learn.

I've been thinking a lot about Camp David what with this being their first week of camp and knowing my family is heavily involved. I spent several years working there, though I do question their sanity for letting me be their Support Staff Leader at age 18. It was very challenging--probably one of the hardest summers of my life--but I loved my staff dearly and still think of them often. In retrospect, I think it was too much responsibility for my maturity, although it was a very valuable experience.

I feel like I'm stretched a little thin, and need to spend some time prioritizing and working on making better use of my time. Although we're significantly less busy than most people, we cherish our low-stress life and guard it diligently. Things are a little out of hand, so it's time to bring them back down. Adding the painting on top of everything else will definitely make it more difficult, but we can make it work, I think. Also, being more focused in my time during the day would help, although I find it difficult to stay on task with the many interruptions intrinsic to having a little person around. But I could definitely do better. Maybe finish that tunic, those book shelves, make that wrap, build a crib...oh, and do the laundry. That'd be handy.