Shot Out Of Cannon: Going Back To A Busy Schedule

I walked six miles this morning. It was too rainy for me to walk yesterday, so I went a little extra today. It was sketchy looking when I went outside. It was foggy and primarily overcast. As I got the first mile finished, I could clearly see the fog lifting in the distance. It was interesting to watch as I went. You can’t really see it happen you just notice that it has.

My kids went back to school this week. They are actually in their brick-and-mortar building. I had some reservations, still do if I’m being honest, but for our family the reasons to go outweighed the reasons to keep them home. It has felt a little like that fog lifting. You can’t totally see it happen, but you notice it has lifted more and more with each nugget of normal.

We’ve also jumped back into soccer, fall baseball and other activities that are starting to fill up the calendar. Personally, I feel like we’ve been suddenly shot out of a cannon. I’ve heard the word overwhelmed from multiple friends, so I know it’s not just me. I think many of us are in danger of being overstimulated quickly.

This is to be expected given how long we’ve been flying low and minimizing our activities and contacts. Overwhelm can cause problems quickly. I am not sure I want to go back to that pace again. That pace where I feel like I’m always chasing something or always running to and from things and then nothing matters except ticking the boxes. I don’t want to live life out of control. I want to have time for what’s important, for what lasts.

When that happens my soul gets weary, I don’t make good decisions, and I sacrifice the people and priorities that I don’t really want to sacrifice. I become a version of me that I don’t particularly like. There’s a great example of this in Luke 10 when Jesus visits the home of Martha and her sister Mary. Mary calmly sat and listened to Jesus. Martha, on the other hand, did what many of us would do with pop-in company – she flitted around and worked.

She got so frustrated at Mary that she complained to Jesus. Verses 41 and 42 is where the real gold is here. “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed – or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Friends, few things are needed. Let’s not lose sight of that as the fog begins to lift. Do you remember how it felt when we first were stuck at home and everything was cancelled? Many people talked about appreciating bonus time with family. Others developed a better understanding of who and what are the real priorities in our lives. We took notice of the people we missed, or the people we cared enough to check on.

We don’t have to go back full throttle to a life so full of preparations and busyness that we forget what’s important. Let’s be cautious on what and how much we go back to. Let’s be more like Mary and keep our attention not on all the things that could be done but on the things that matter.

Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Are you managing to keep your priorities as the fog lifts? As our schedules fill back up, let’s ask God to help us hang on to what we really need so that we can live in peace and not chaos. Let’s don’t push the important out of the way just because we miss being busy.