Balance. balance. balance. “Don’t you dare fall off the balance beam!” I would often say to myself as a young, budding gymnast. “Keep it together, don’t show the world that you can fall.”
Fast-forward twenty-four years, I often, emphasis on the ‘often’, find myself in the various seasons of life trying to find the balance to stay on the beam. When I started my graduate school journey, I was working full-time as a teacher with a demanding group of kiddos (which is MORE than enough to keep oneself busy: emotionally & physically), helping out with Veritas/going on trips/board member, doing photography part-time, and helping my friends and sisters transition into motherhood through support and the throwing of showers-galore!
I have never been one to halfheartedly do anything, which is, both a blessing and a curse! I am the first to volunteer and the one that consistently shows up. This is not always conducive to finding balance. Although it is good to help others, it often creates a colossal imbalance where zero boundaries have been put into practice and time management is lacking. When this happens you create a traffic pile-up seventy miles long where no one is happy, needs are not being met, and you are behind on everything. This was my life, and let’s be honest sometimes it still occasionally happens. I’m a work in progress.
Putting boundaries, caps, and learning to say “no” have been vital to finding balance in the various fluctuating seasons of life. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon a wise man among men, reflected on the different seasons of life:
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven;
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance…”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-4
One of my dear friends started a podcast, called Love Living Free. In it she talks about “Savoring the season” one is in. We are not given or promised an unlimited amount of days. Our days are set and numbered. Seasons come and go. It’s OK to change and adjust your boundaries to the different seasons of life. Be honest and vulnerable with someone you trust about the struggles you face in your season of life.
I’m currently in a season that I’m weary of. From writing my thesis, to working part-time for Veritas, to working at my internship, family potlucks, and to serving at church; I’m tired. However, I LOVE what I do! I’m incredibly passionate about the work and life the Lord has graciously gifted me, so I press on in this season of life savoring and embracing the challenging moments of feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. It is in these struggles that we have the opportunity to cling more to Christ. My pastor made a poignant remark that struck a nerve in me, check out the sermon, “Don’t begrudge the difficult days, God is at work, you have not been abandoned.”
Each season is unique, just as every sunset is different than the past and subsequent. The vibrant, glistering rays of color dancing in the clouds to the bleak, somber, gray tones of a monotone sunset, each has its purpose. Just as the arduous desert season and the summiting of the mountains in our life are used to refine, inspire, and bring us closer to our Lord and Savior.