isn’t juggling rather careless?

It was one of those days! Well, let me confess — one of those months. Everything seemed to be pressing for a decision — do this, do that, no do this! Do it now. It can’t wait! My life was out of control and I couldn’t stop it. My days were full, hectic, and scattered. I wondered often where this path was headed.

As my days screamed out of control, I figured my schedule was in overload shock. Surely there were things I was doing or involved in that needed to be wiped clean off my to-do slate. There just had to be!

Yeses and Noes.

I decided to set aside some time and pray through all the events I was involved in. Surely there were some things I had said yes to that clearly needed to be a no. Life should not be this hectic.

After weeks of praying and asking God if I needed to clear my involvement in certain activities, the answer fell back with a quiet no. How could this be? This type of crazy is not good for anyone. God, can you hear me? I know busy can become such a distraction and become a deterrent to others. That I didn’t want to be.

I was full of questions and many frustrations!

How could a life this chaotic make a difference in anyone else’s life?

How can I continue to maintain this schedule without going insane?

When was I ever going to have family time?

And the frustrations mounted. As I continued to seek God and his will for my schedule, I felt certain He had called me to do all that was before me. Don’t get me wrong — although I was frustrated, I did love everything I was doing. It felt right. Most of it was smack-dab in my sweet spot.

Praising God for the path.

Because some things just have to be worked out with God alone, I went to pray one morning. “I’m still looking for answers, Lord, but thank you for the path you have me on. Thank you for not taking away anything you have called me to. I really do love juggling everything in my life, Lord!”

That’s when I heard it. Did you hear it to? It was loud and straight to the center of my heart. “Alene, isn’t juggling rather careless?”

That’s all that was whispered.

Isn’t juggling rather careless?

Instantly before I could mutter a word back to God — like he was really looking for an answer — I got a full blown 3D image of me trying to juggle. Oh my — it was a mess. I was trying hard to juggle these balls and, of course ,they were going everywhere. Hello, because I can’t juggle!

And at warp speed from that image of me juggling, I saw myself carelessly juggling my schedule. Throwing documents here, computers there, schedules over there, and people everywhere. It was a mess!

Juggling your schedule is just as careless, the sweet voice pounded on my heart. In a flash I had a reality check. A gut-wrenching flash of how careless I had been with the precious things God had entrusted me with. I’d squeak time in here for this, scramble around for that, and make sure it was all done by the deadline. And I wondered why I was frustrated.

Block scheduling works.

Realizing I had some changing to do, I went back to my trusted way of calendaring and scheduling. Block scheduling.

I spent time writing down all responsibilities that had to be accomplished. Once that was done, I had to find the perfect day and time to schedule that activity. Blocking a few hours here on Monday, a half-day there on Tuesday, and always a full day on Wednesday.

Blocking out those times and setting up boundaries to keep me within that time frame was difficult. Why? Because I’m a spontaneous girl! I’d rather fly off to coffee spur of the moment or take time for a three-hour lunch with you. While those things are great, in the long run I’d then have to juggle the rest of my schedule to make it work.

So, while I’m not a juggler — I am learning to schedule my days so that I’m not careless with the time I have. It’s still a struggle, but I am making headway.

How about you? Are you a juggler?

Or maybe you’re one of those naturally gifted-disciplined people that can keep a perfect schedule? If that’s you — I won’t be hatin’ on you, but I would love to hear your tips for scheduling!

 

NOTE: If you struggle with making the right decisions on things to be involved in, there is a great book that will help you walk through the process. It’s The Best Yes – Making Wise Decisions Midst of Endless Demands by Lysa TerKeurst. Download it here and understand how to live out your Best Yes!