The Balance that God Provides

I know how difficult it is to balance it all. After my son was born one of the hardest decisions I had to make was whether to stay home or return to work. From as far back as I can remember I dreamed of being a smart, savvy, career oriented woman rolling in the big bucks, unfortunately when the big bucks did start rolling in I was about to be a mom.

Even though my husband and I agreed, before my son was born, that I would continue to work fulltime outside the home--I had reneged on my end of the agreement the moment my son came into the world. I just could not bear leaving our little one with someone I hardly knew and with someone who could never love him as much as we did. Even though ten months of me being unemployed put a strain on my marriage, those were precious moments with my son I will never regret being a part of.

After my ten months of being a stay-at-home mom, I was back in the workforce. So I know what it is like working both sides of the aisle, or maybe I should say “multiple sides of the aisle.” I have worked from home, part-time, full-time, owned my own business, and now I am preparing for a full-time job outside the home, again. Am I looking forward to it? Not especially, because I know how difficult it is to balance it all. But for me it is also an opportunity to rely more on God. You would think the busier I am the less time I would have for God, but that is actually when I need Him the most. When I am stressed, overwhelmed, and exhausted, He brings clarity to my life. God has taught me essentially how to manage my time, so I have more time to invest that time in those things that truly matter to Him. I call it balancing blessings.

Balancing blessings is essentially stewardship, but to me it is also similar to the gift given to most wives and mothers. For instance, a man will look in the cabinets and cupboards and see nothing plausible to eat, but a woman with a desire to care for her family can look in the cabinets and cupboard and see a meal.

There have been many times I've looked at my schedule, and did not know how I was going to do everything I wanted and needed to do. When I sought God's perspective, He gave me the clarity to help me focus on what really needed to be accomplished and the insight as to how I can do things better in the future.

That’s the clarity that God provides. He has taught me simple steps to bring balance and order to every aspect of my life. He has helped me identify and conquer hindrances in my home, in my finances, within myself, and in my processes that has distracted me from loving and focusing on what truly matters to Him. I share what God has taught me in detail in my book Balancing Blessings and Obtaining Order, but a few steps you can take today to bring a little balance and order to your life is listed under the section “Your Call to Order”.

In conclusion, I may not be able to enjoy a weekday afternoon at the park with my son for a while, or bless my family as a stay-at-home mom; but as a wife and mother who works outside the home, I will continue to strive to get and maintain order in my daily life, by relying upon God.

Your Call to Order

• Evaluate your daily schedule.
• Look at where your time is being consumed. How much time is spent wasting time: on the phone, watching television, surfing the internet, socializing, etc. Analyze the value and joy these activities give you in relation to the time you could be spending doing something more meaningful. If you find the time wasters have no benefit, replace it with something more beneficial.
• Seek help.
• Do not be afraid to ask for help. The Proverbs 31 woman had maids!
• Scale down your possessions.
• Every thing you own is not necessary everything you need; start going through your things to determine what can be sold, donated or trashed. The less you have the less you have to clean and maintain.

Power Verses (from the New King James Version)

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him (James 1:5).

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye (Psalm 32:8).