Thursday, April 1, 2010

Acceptance, Laundry, & Robots



Recently life has become very compartmentalized. I don't know how well I'm adjusting or keeping up.

Between the increased rigors of home-schooling, home-keeping, everyday responsibilities and new part-time work, I'm easily overwhelmed by the seemingly endless tasks that require me for completion. Sometimes I feel as if the world would stop spinning on it's axis if I didn't tell it to keep on twirling...or at least feed it a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich.

Change requires sacrifice. Most of us will admit that sacrifice is hard, even when it's just the little things. Sacrifice shows me the idols I'd rather not acknowledge. They're different for all of us but change shows me that I cling too hard to my own time, my own agenda-wish-list.

Oh I am selfish with my time. Giving up more of the precious little I had for myself is downright painful. I remind myself that the mothers who came before me probably devoted fewer thoughts to issues like "me time" than we moderns do. As I've said before, sometimes I envy those long-ago mothers. Like it or not, we are products of our place in history.

And while opportunity cost is a reality for all of us, there are seasons in our lives when we feel that more acutely. This blog post, for example, means that I will stay up even later folding laundry or that it will just not get folded at all until another day. Every bit of the unnecessary {like writing} that I choose for myself means that I have to be okay with the undone. It means I can't complain about it, I can't secretly fret and fume...I can simply accept the what is.

Acceptance, much like her sister, "Sacrifice," is also hard. My Father keeps reminding me, gently but clearly, that this is the stuff of life, the stuff of being a responsible grown-up. Change, sacrifice, acceptance...it's what we adults often have to do.

I like provision to come in the form of a money tree in my backyard or a plane ticket to Paris in my mailbox. And sometimes gifts do come in ways that are magical and undoubtedly supernatural {though I have yet to experience the tree.} And when they do, my lips are eager to offer praise.

But when opportunity comes in less-than-glittery ways, I too often choose to see what I'm giving up rather than what I'm being given, my pessimistic tendencies an all-to-familiar obstacle to joy.

It's all in how I see it. Sometimes I'd rather be a robot, a series of buttons and switches that someone could just program. Choice can be overwhelming.

Thankfully we're not on our own...and we're not robots either. I can choose the lens through which I view the season but in any given moment, I lose it. And that's when I cry out to the One who made me, not as a robot but as someone who can ask for new eyes {a little reprogramming}, anytime, anywhere, no matter the season.

So I'm choosing {with some divine encouragement} to accept the change and the inevitable sacrifice that comes with it. And there's some cool stuff happening...excitement, surprising fulfillment, even some joy.

And yes, some unfolded laundry...

Because some things never change.

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Linked up with Tuesdays Unwrapped {Chatting at the Sky}

11 comments:

  1. Excited for you. :)

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  2. Sacrifice, choice and change. Scary topics!!! So are you going to share more about the new part-time employment? I loved your She Speaks submission, too! I am praying you get to go!! Blessings!

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  3. Here's something that never changes: I never fail to be inspired by your writing.

    A wonderful, blessed Easter to you and yours, my gifted friend! Love you!

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  4. You have a way with words...I find it hard to balance the right amount of me time with the right amount of sacrifice time, with the right amount of laundry doing...mostly the laundry suffers. And then I feel guilty. but, you said all that, in a much better way. THanks for sharing.

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  5. Pretty wonderful! This newlywed is (finally, welcome adulthood!) beginning to understand a (teeeeeny) bit of this. Thank you for the beautiful words and wonderful coffee time! LOVE!

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  6. A wonderful post. I have less time than ever to myself but yet you are right, the more I view a new task or responsibility I have been given as a blessing and opportunity instead of a drudgery, the more I am able to balance my life in proper perspective. I don't have to cling to what used to be, back when I had more freedom, before I had kids or a home or responsibilities. I can embrace what is NOW and be happy that I have been entrusted with so much!

    Blessings,
    Melissa

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  7. So true ... how often we, as moms, choose "robot-mode" over authentic living and joy seeking. Great post.

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  8. He came that your joy would be full. Too often that gets buried under the sink full of dirty dishes, the yard full of squabbling little ones, the full laundry hampers (or hall), the full basket of bills, the too-full schedule, the brain full of the enemy's lies, the heart full of postponed dreams and desires, and more. The passing of years will empty some of these and God, in His wisdom, lets us continue to "work out" some of the others. Just continue to seize the moments . . . something I see you doing more and more. I love you, my first-born.

    Forever,
    MOM

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  9. I think I've learned it never all gets done. And when it does, I either think of something else that needs doing or the kids have undone something and I'm doing it again. It's a never-ending bowing at the throne of Grace. The tub is my altar, the floor and the clothes are my offering.
    You are not alone. I love you and can't wait to see you tomorrow.
    the gift giver.

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  10. Excellent dissertation, thanks for posting

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  11. I love this post especially the part on how sometimes opportunity comes in "less-than-glittery ways"

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