Blog-tember Challenge prompt: Tell us about your favorite season.
Why is it your favorite and what does it say about you?
I like the singleness season because I’m in it right now and learning so much about God and myself. đ
My new favorite season is Spring. Sorry, Summer, but you got too hot and cumbersome.
Spring is like the Goldilocks season. It’s not too cold or too hot. It’s not to sunny or too rainy. You can wear dresses and you can wear layers. Plus, flowers are blooming. Spring is a picture of balance.
That’s what Spring says about me. I try to live in balance. I know true balance doesn’t exist. We are always pulled in one direction more than the other. I learned that it’s not about living in perfect balance, like trying to stay at the center point of a pendulum.
When I was in the youth group, my friend had a grandfather clock and I used to stare at its pendulum, willing for it to pause in the middle. I figured that if it did, it was like time slowed down and nobody had to grow up so fast. The day the pendulum stopped in the middle was the day the clock broke. It was still amazing to look at, but it didn’t function.
Living in balance isn’t about living in the perfect center. Life is like a pendulum. It’s always swinging because we’re living it. The day it stops in the center is the day we stop living.
Have you ever stopped living? You’re alive but life is living without you. I have. There were years where I was going through the motions of life. It looked like I was balancing it all: school, work, ministry, and relationships. I was so good at faking it that I convinced myself, “I got this.” The truth was I didn’t, and soon, I was like a broken grandfather clock.
Living in balance is not about living in the center of a pendulum. Trying to get there will drive us crazy, and getting there means we’re broken. Living in balance is about living in grace in whatever direction or season of life we’re in at the moment.
The month leading up to VBS is extremely busy for me. Living in balance means I put more time and priority in the ministry, but I don’t neglect my other responsibilities. They just don’t get as much effort. Dinner is mostly take-out. I don’t post on the blog as often. I don’t even read as much.
That used to make me feel bad, like I’m not doing life right. Like I’m failing because I’m not doing as much in other areas of my life. I used to look at other people and think that if they can balance their lives then I should be able to do it too. Perhaps if I prepared better. Maybe if I planned better. If only I stuck to my To-Do lists. Then I might have a more balanced life.
Lies. All we can do is live in the grace of God. We need to stop looking at what other people are doing. We need to stop being so hard on ourselves. We need to lean into God’s arms and stay there. We need to be more forgiving of ourselves and remember that seasons come and go.
When the ministry isn’t as busy, I swing into a different direction. I can spread out my time and effort more evenly until something else needs more priority. Until I enter a different season, maybe one that is more focused on family or more focused on writing or whatever.
Preparation is good. Planning is great. To-do lists are helpful. But if they all fail, it doesn’t mean we are a failures. It mean we’re human and need the grace of God. Breathe and lean into the grace of God.
