I have so much on my plate right now it would be an understatement to say I was overwhelmed. People might think that being a stay-at-home mom is an easy lifestyle but contrary to popular belief it is not. Being a stay-at-home-mom is a J-O-B. We just get paid differently. Our pay is through cuddles, hugs and appreciation.
But that is for another conversation.
On top of making sure my toddlers don’t strangle each other over the only Peppa Pig toy in the home (since the rest have expectedly gone missing), cooking, cleaning, the whole sha-bang and being a traditional wife, I am also a content creator entrepreneur. So not only am I an extremely hands on and involved mother and wife but I have also decided to build in my passion for writing, sharing and educating.
I make YouTube videos, which most of you know, and I am currently working on illustrating a book that was written by a published author. This is the second illustration project I will be completing this year from the same author.
I have a few other personal projects I am actively developing but I can’t say much right now as they are in the works. Let’s just say I’ve got some really exciting things to reveal to you all in the near future.
On top of all of these things on my to-do list, which is ever growing by the way, I have also been recruited to plan and host a baby shower next month.
Oh My Goodness!
This was very unexpected and highly inconvenient for me. I do not have the time or the extra funds to dish out to contribute to another project other than what I have already begun working on. Not to mention, I just met the woman who the baby shower is for about a month and a half ago! This friendship is very still very new.
My husband and I met this woman and her husband at our church in the “Married Couples” Wednesday bible study one evening. As soon as we met them, it was a pleasant engagement because we had been praying to meet another young married couple, with children, who were Christians like us. In this day and age, it was very difficult to find that.
We’ve gone from one church to another looking high and low but we had trouble finding what we were looking for. Everyone in the church services was significantly older than us and/or seemed to not be interested in building a new friendship.
So we would also search places that we frequented for possible positive relationships.
Nothing.
We couldn’t find anyone who could relate to us. If we met someone who had kids, they were single and separated from their spouse. If they were our age, they did not have kids and their lifestyle was completely opposite from the direction that we were trying to go.
Finally, we met another young Christian African-American married couple that had a daughter around the age of our toddler girls. That was not a coincidence but a miracle!
So you see, this couple embraced us as brothers and sisters in Christ immediately and so did we. Not long after did we find out the they were expecting their second child later this year. Soon, they would have two children, which we already had.
Fast forward to me last week where I was overwhelmed and worried with how I was going to find a way to help plan and assist with this upcoming baby shower. I now had another person expecting me to put time and effort aside for them and I just could not see how I was going to do it. My husband and I are on a tight budget to save for a couple investments in our businesses and future endeavors, I have about six projects I am working on, and on top of that taking care of my family.
So do you know what I did?
I tapped out.
Yup, I said it, I tapped out.
I took three days away from checking my email, recording and editing, writing, illustrating, plotting, planning, reading and learning. I instead focused solely on spending uninterrupted time nourishing myself, praying diligently, contemplating, spending time with my family, and giving my undivided attention to my husband.
On these days, we jogged as a family on the trail, ate healthily as I did a cleanse from the junky foods I was indulging in when I was feeling overwhelmed, and watched episode after episode of 7th Heaven. Mind you, I never watch TV. anymore as I find it is very unproductive and a waste of time.
I literally am chuckling to myself as I am typing this because I know I may sound like a lunatic for listing all of this out to you.
My point is, I took some time out for ME do what I wanted to do without the pressures of the outside world. Now, don’t get me wrong, I want to create, that is my passion. And if you are passionate about anything (whether it be writing, art, your business, cooking, etc) you most definitely know that horrid feeling gnawing at your conscience of not chipping off at it just a tad a day.
But the time I took away from my steadily growing and haunting to-do list gave me room to see my challenges from another perspective. I prayed heavily about the added responsibility of planning and hosting this baby shower for a couple that I just met. And I have come to the conclusion that Christ has guided me to exactly where I need to be. I don’t think it was coincidence that I met this couple at the time that I did. I know God has a special and deep relationship with these two because I see it in their faith. And my husband and I meeting them was more a miracle than anything else.
You see, it is EXTREMELY hard to find another African-American married couple living a truly Christian lifestyle with children around our children’s age, and did I mention the wife is also a stay-at-home-mom like me? How good is God?
I believe God brought us into each other’s lives for a reason. He knew this couple needed help during this season of their lives and had no one else to rely on so he brought my husband and I into their lives. Christ knew the woman I am; a giving and compassionate woman, and He knew I would not let her down.
God also knew that my husband and I were praying to meet another couple like us so we would have a means of Christ guided support in this challenging day and age.
He knew what He was doing when He brought us together.
Christ also gave me the enlightenment that there will be no perfect time to help someone. There will be no time where our finances are free enough or our to-do lists are short enough to add on another task. If people waited for someone to have the perfect slot in their life to help others, no one would get help. It is out of the mercy of others that we are able to survive. Even if we do not have much, we should still give what we can.
A homeless person on the road begs for some extra change for food everyday. If every single person thought to themselves they do not have enough time to stop to give, they do want to give the extra change they have because they wanted to use it for the vending machine at work, they do not want to spare a couple of dollars because they just paid rent and only have $50 to their name until next paycheck, or they do not want to give that unopened bottle of water they have because they will get thirsty later, that homeless person who die of starvation. This is because no one had the perfect time to give and no one showed enough mercy to sacrifice just a little.
I am not comparing my new sister in Christ to a homeless person but I am painting a picture for you to see how there will never be a perfect time to help someone in need. We all thrive from the mercy of others. Even as simple as someone who allows you to cut in front of them on the road as you are pulling out from a plaza. Without that person showing you mercy you would be sitting in your car at that corner waiting for hours as car after car passes you by selfishly ignoring your need to turn into the main road.
I have decided that although I have tons and tons on my plate to do, I will add this to my list of projects because God has a plan for me. He led me on this path to this point and I cannot turn Him down nor will I complain. I will submit gracefully and obediently to Him and do His work.
So, my darling readers, I close today in reminding you that if your to-do list is growing and starting to tear at your sanity, it is okay to tap out.
I call it, a Christ Guided Tap Out.
Take a day or two to reset mentally. Take that time to do something other than work. Pray diligently, contemplate, meditate and relax. You will come back with an alternate perspective and renewed vitality towards your tasks. And whatever your challenges are, Christ will enlighten you in understanding the reason for the path you are on during the season.
