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When Life Gets in the Way

Posted by Family Ministries on

24 hours in a day. 7 days in every week. No more. No less. This is what we are given. We can’t make more time. Time is limited. That is one thing I know for sure. No matter how hard we try we simply can’t create more time. So we have to plan very carefully how to use each hour we are allotted each day. Personally there are days I spend each hour in all the right ways. There are others where I reach the end of the day and want to know where the time has gone.

With only 24 precious hours per day 6-8 taken up by sleeping that gives us a limited amount to portion out to take care of children, work, do house work, grocery shop, drive to and fro rehearsals or sports practice, meals, school and maybe just maybe spend some time in much needed prayer and reflection. By the end of the day and the end of the week I know we as parents are completely exhausted. We have turned in to a human doings instead of human beings. I don’t know about you but I certainly want to be more and do less. I want to stop counting hours and start enjoying more moments.

It’s the time spent truly enjoying moments like a giggle from Austin or a crazy story from Charlotte. The conversations in the car like the one we had this morning where she explained that she loves being a ballerina, a princess and a firefighter but when she gets bigger she is going to be a doctor. She wanted to make sure I knew that when she is a doctor she can’t always come home with me, she needs to stay at the hospital and fix booboos (already she knows where she will be spending her time). Or the other morning when she asked to pray in the car and we took turns doing 5 different prayers thanking God for mommies and daddies, for baby brothers and for Disneyland.  I want more of those moments.

I don’t want to disappoint anyone EVER. I am a bit of a people pleaser and have a hard time saying no and end up giving too much of my time some days in places where I shouldn’t because I don’t want to let someone down. That,  I have learned is impossible sometimes. Someone will be let down by the choices we make when it comes to how we spend our time. I have missed birthday parties and graduations and sadly even a wedding once because it I had to choose where I needed to spend those hours that day. (The wedding couldn’t be helped Charlotte was on her way in to the world and showed up when I was supposed to be on a boat in Newport Harbor celebrating the happy couple). I never said I was perfect.  No one is. Except Jesus.   We can all stop trying to be so darn perfect! Jesus took care of that for us!

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 

All we can do is the best we can with the time we are given. As a mom I am guilty of feeling guilty. Of feeling like if only I had crammed 1 more half hour of reading in with Charlotte while the 5th load of laundry was in the dryer. We all need to stop. Stop feeling the pressure to be more and do more. We all need to stop and breathe. We all need to pray and remember we will never be perfect. I am not saying be selfish and just do what you want when you want. You need to decide what is important to you. Follow your heart and do what you feel is best. Pray and reflect and trust that God knows the plan. I am always so in awe of His plans and how when we stop trying to be in charge of things, everything starts to fall in to place. Be mindful of the hours as you try to fill them with as many amazing moments as you can. And if that means  your child misses a soccer game or a birthday party because that day you wanted to spend time together as a family, that is OK! Life is messy. Life can be stressful if we try to do too much. But life is also beautiful. Each moment is a gift. Don’t let life get in the way of really living each moment.

Nikki Wheatley
Elementary Ministries Director

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