Last night, I went to our church's WOW ( womens outreaching to women ) nite. We hold them on the last friday of every month and tackle different topics relevant to women, or just socialise. Anyway, this time,our pastor Pauline Warner, invited the wonderful Suzie Botross (She Will Run) to share with us about time management.
Now to be fair I should go back a week, and give you a little glimpse into the build up to this nights activities.
10 days ago, It was wednesday 15th of June. I went to work on Wed, Thurs and Friday, getting up at 5.30 am to get in the city by 7:20am. I usually have to iron uniforms for all of us, make lunches for the kids, pack my toddler's childcare bag, set out clothes, have breaky, do my TAWG and shower, dress, makeup, hair, and go to work.... Once I arrive at work, its go go go, till I leave... drive the long commute home arriving appox 5pm, pick up my toddler from childcare, take her home, get her dinner, give her a bath,settle her to bed, then cook tea for the rest of the family, having it ready as they walk in hungry at about 630pm After dinner, I get the other kids bathed, and tackle issues like unfinished homework, readers, random school projects due in 2 days time and the debriefing from their day at school, whilst at the same time, listen as my husband shares his days experience. Once the kids are in bed, the lunchboxes and uniforms for the morning retrieved, and my own uniform put out for ironing in the am; I sit in my favourite arm chair, pull out my laptop, wade through the online unit I am studying at present whilst, spending a little time social networking on facebook etc (my hubby tackles his work on his laptop, usually in the same loungeroom, at the same time). I finally stumble off to bed sometime close midnight and am up again at the crack of dawn to do it all over again.
Now I had to work an extra, on this Saturday am. When I got home I was exhausted and after getting lunch for everyone , I had a 2 hr nap. My kids usually wash all their clothes, under my direction, and tidy their bedrooms on sat ams... But this weekend, our church was hosting Tim Hall, an entertaining but also powerfully impacting healing evangelist. So my husband took the kids to the seminar in the am, and when I got home, the kids had done nothing towards tackling their chores. My husband had to push them really hard to get them to do anything... So having me asleep left my hubby somewhat perturbed and when I woke up, a silly argument ensued about the whole tidying issue etc. We went to the Saturday nite outreach, and feeling challenged, dissolved into tearful apologies afterwards. The following sunday, we went to church in the am, I went to visit a friend after lunch, came home, put a roast on, went to church again, and came home to a lovely roast, before getting the kids to bed and tackling the study once again...
Monday and Tuesday, I found the house in a state of neglect, the kids clothes unclean, my own clothes not washed, the larder was empty and I had a teething unhappy sick toddler who didnt want to be put down.
Wednesday worked, but came home to a sick husband with a 24hr bug. Thursday same ol thing, except I picked up an extra childbirth Education casual shift and was gone from 0630 am til 1030 pm , getting a text message about the untidy state of the house. I came home and worked for an hour tidying the kitchen, and then did the usual preparation for the following day. I worked on friday am, and got home at 5, washed fed and put to bed my toddler, and ensuring the family had food for tea before heading off to the womens event.
I was sooooooooo tired. I thought to myself as I drove to the womens event, I am so inconsistant, that the only thing that I do consistantly, is be inconsistant. !!!!!
Living this season of my life is such a challenge.
When I arrived I grabbed a coffee and sat with some ladies I havent had much time to chat with lately, mums with young kids and working too. As Suzie shared from Gods wisdom on managing our time, I in my exhausted silly state, joked around loudly with the others, and we laughed and laughed. Yet deep down we couldnt help it, at the same time, sobs of distress almost choked each one of us into silence. It is sooo hard to deal with. As we started to share our weeks experiences, we couldnt stop talking. We realised we were in this similar state of pressure, of juggling all the big stones in our lives... the big parts that sent all the deeper questions bubbling to the surface.
How does a woman manage her full life? How does she prioritise her marriage, her family, her faith, her work, her home, her church, her friends, her own needs etc.? Pounding our heads with the overwhelming thought of juggling it all, we found the comfort of common experiences and in the deep desire to get it right, we found comfort in knowing most women in our season of life are doing the same thing. We need God and we need each other.
God has told us to cherish our time, to use it wisely, and that if we do, we will find contentment. Yet here we were, all three, exhausted struggling to find that sense of peace in our lives. We laughed , we cried, we encouraged each other, we listened, we validated each others situation and difficulties. Suzie and Pauline boosted us up, but most of all, we recognised that it is a season that comes with womanhood, motherhood and being a wife. It comes with fulfilment, and having "full" lives, pressed down shaken together and running over. Its almost too hard to contain. Some of the difficulties we face, are simply poor self talk, lack of self discipline and disorder. Some of the issues are simply beyond our control, but there is comfort in sharing each others burdens.
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