Is it the weight of the world?  Oh, it's on my shoulder?  Huh.


The Lord revealed something to me the other day, that I wanted to share with you.

I feel guilty if I'm not doing something productive (or at least something that makes me feel productive). 

It drives my husband crazy that I can't sit and watch one of our favorite shows with him without doing something else at the same time - either doing stuff on the computer, crocheting, folding laundry....you name it.  He tells me that he wishes that I'd just relax.

Well, it turns out that I don't really know how to do that.  Even if my husband takes the kids out or a family member comes to play with the kiddos so I can get some time to myself, I feel like I'm doing something wrong if I do anything other than cleaning, making dinner, etc.

I'm sure that I'm not the only person afflicted with this inability to relax.  Is it a woman thing?  A mom thing?  I look at my mom and my grandmother (my Dad's mom - the only grandmother that I knew), and they were both so darn productive ALL the time.  They could sew and paint to beat the band, and they cook like no other.  My grandmother I speak of in the past tense, but thank the good Lord, my mother is still with us and doing all of these SUPERWOMAN things.  I swear, my mom has more energy than I do!
But, I digress...

I have the habit of taking on WAAAAY too many things because Heaven forbid that I don't have a million things to do!  Does this sound at all familiar to you?


I'm reminded of a story that I read in Joanna Weaver's "Having A Mary Heart in a Martha World" that she credits to Rosemarie Kowalski.

The story is about a man who met God in a valley.  God asked the man if he would pull a wagon with three stones up a hill, giving him a very specific place to leave the wagon.

The wagon looked to be in good shape, and the stones didn't look particularly heavy.  So the man agreed.

On his way up the hill, he met up with many friends and neighbors who asked if they could add their own rocks or bag of pebbles to the wagon.  He agreed each time, and of course the wagon got progressively heavier, and a bit harder to pull up to the top of the hill.

The story goes on to say:

  'One little stop followed another, and the wagon grew fuller and fuller.  The sun was hot above the man pulling it, and his shoulders ached with the strain.  The songs of praise and thanksgiving that had filled his heart had long since left his lips as resentment began to build inside.  Surely this wasn't what he had signed up for that morning.  God had given him a burden heavier than he could bear....

..."This is it!" he fumed.  "God can't expect me to haul this all the way up the mountain."

"Oh God," he wailed.  This is too hard for me!  I thought you were behind this trip, but I am overcome by the heaviness of it.  You'll have to get someone else to do it.  I'm just not strong enough."'

God came over to see what the problem was.  He started taking out each of the extra burdens that the man had picked up along the way, asking what each thing was. 

'God continued to unload the wagon, removing both light and heavy items.  They dropped to the ground, the dust swirling up around them.  The man who had hoped to help God grew silent.  "If you will be content to let others take their own burdens," God told him, "I will help you with your task."

"But I promised I would help!  I can't leave those things lying here."

"Let others shoulder their own belongings," God said gently.  "I know you were trying to help, but when you are weighted down with all these cares, you cannot do what I have asked of you.......My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.  I will never ask you to carry more than you can bear."'

Hmmmmm.  This provides some food for thought, doesn't it?  I know that God isn't saying not to help people.  He isn't telling us not to be generous with our time and to give of ourselves. 

But He has been speaking to me these past few days, and reminding me to follow the Peace.  If I don't have Peace about taking something new on, then God's hand is not on it. 

A wise friend of mine often reminds me that in saying "yes" to one thing, you are also saying "no" to something else. 

If you see yourself in this post, let me urge you to do the following (as I remind myself to do the same):

1.   Pray, pray, pray before agreeing to take on something new.
2.   Ask yourself if taking on that new task will benefit your family, or take more of your time away from
|      them.  As much as I love to help others, God has been reminding me that they are my first priority (after
      Him, of course) - not my friends, not my job, not my blog(s)....my husband and my kiddos.
3.   Follow your Peace - that's God's voice laying His answers on your heart.
4.   If you agree to something that you no longer feel peace about, have the grace to tell the person "I'm
     sorry, I thought God's hand was on this, but it wasn't.  I'm no longer able to do this."

I actually had to do the last one the other day.  It was an uncomfortable and humbling experience, but I feel more at peace after having done it.


ummmm.....ahem!

Your sister in Christ,


photo credit: audrey_sel

photo credit: mackenzienicole