Top 3 things

life for everyone is crazy.  i’m not claiming to have any more things to do than anyone else.  but my goodness, sometimes it feels incomprehensible!  my day starts at 6:30 am.  sad to say, usually by a 3 year old staring at me.  i take them to the potty and get them back into their room to “read books” and i sit to have some “quiet time” .  this followed by a quick shower (if i’m lucky) and a race with the clock to get ready, get all three boys fed breakfast, clothed and usually out the door to school, or grocery store, or a meeting.  if they are in preschool i’m most likely up at the new collision center trying to organize something, put something together, or bugging laura hardegree to do something.  just to turn around an hour and 1/2 later to pick them up.   there are few mornings that we get to call pj days.  and those are nice.  but it is usually when i plan to clean house,  and throw some laundry in.   all that in between reading and coloring and playing games and sometimes play-doh.  we have a choice of t.v. shows at 10 am-sesame street or imagination movers.  while ben and sam are watching this i get jack down for his first nap.  then sam usually picks a game to play…horton hears a who’s elephant game, caraboo’s treasure hunt or a classic game of memory.  it is a must that we play the game “just one more time”.  jack wakes up, then lunch and naps for ben and sam.  which is a process.  then as they are sleeping i have some play time with jack, which consists of me getting soaked with drool and a lot of laughing. then he goes down for his 2nd nap and i try to get done the things i have started while everyone was awake.  then they are up before i know it and if it’s nice we go for a walk around the neighborhood, and they have some more playtime -their imaginations are amazing.  i could be entertained for hours just listening to them.  it’s then time to get dinner ready-they love helping me make dinner.  then the highlight of our day is when jason comes home…ben and sam talk so fast trying to tell him everything that has happened. jack takes off towards him gabbering ‘da da’.  these are really fun days.  but all of the days can be quite overwhelming.  this is not at all a complaint…i want to make sure the wrong tone is not being sent out…my blog is labeled a glimpse…this is but a small glimpse of my days.  but i also wanted to write this because so many of us are overwhelmed.  no matter where we are in life.  i was thinking the other day of just HOW most of us get to the point of actually being overcome by our ‘to do’ list.  it’s our fault.  it is only by our choice that we have so much to do.  it reminded me of swimming in an above ground pool…yes, strange.  there isn’t anything to do in an above ground pool but get wet.  marco polo can only go so far, so what else do you do:  you walk around in the water by the sides as fast as you can as many times as you can to make a whirlpool!  the faster you go and more times you go around the more swift the water swirls around that vinyl cylinder.  the only way to make it stop is to plant your feet, hold on and stop.  the water can’t keep going without you stirring it.  sure it pushes you for a bit, but it does stop and settles out again.  recently i have been in that whirlpool.  with the construction of the new youth facility being ‘completed’ i find many more things on my ‘to do’ list.   in the youth ministry there are so many areas of ministry.  we have amazing people who have come along side of us to help but i am very type A and see everything that needs to be done to get to a ‘finished’ stage. i will think,’ i will just do it’.    so my thoughts were consumed.  if you don’t know i have an amazing husband.  he is so good at bringing me back to where i need to be.  he recently gave me the best advice ever.  he said:  pick 3 things you love.  3 top things.  3 things you are good at.  these are your priorities.  this has helped perspective a lot.  i have been able to concentrate more on the things that i love:  #1 my awesome husband.  i may not be able to be at his office helping him every second of the day, but i can pray for him.  i can support him instead of pushing my opinion.  #2 my kids-treasuring every minute with them.  making sure that their little minds are being stimulated all day and that they know that they are important to me. sure the house isn’t spotless all the time.  but at the end of the day, i can have it cleaned in 20-30 minutes still having time to spend with my wonderful husband.  #3 the ministry.  if i’m not careful this can trample my first 2 things.  God has given me a passion that is sometimes squashed by the “job” of it.  but it comes down to the fact:  i want to see the students encounter Christ instead of thinking about how i can fix something that is out of my hands.  i’m still being pushed by the waters, but i know that if i plant my feet and hold on-things will settle.   it’s a growth.  not an overnight change.  but it is a choice.  dr. janice sjostrand reminded us at this past ladies retreat:  we all have the same 24 hours in the day.  the difference is in how we use it!  may we all make the MOST of our day!