My balancing act

Do you remember those guys who would spin plates on sticks? I feel like that's what my daily life has become! I start by spinning Riley's plate, then Logan's plate, then Jason's, then my teacher plate, family plate, relationship with God plate, laundry/chores plate...it's a balancing act that I don't think even involves a "me" plate anymore! It's tough because as soon as I get one plate "spinning" well, another one (or three) seem to wobble and require my attention. I know that I am not the only one who feels this way and I certainly don't think I have even close to the hardest life situations to deal with - but it can all get so overwhelming, can't it? When I was able to be at home during the day, I felt like I was able to accomplish so much more. Everything seemed to go so smoothly. Now that I'm back at work, I'm struggling with feeling like I'm doing everything partially well and doing nothing with the full attention or enthusiasm each person or responsibility deserves. I'm beyond thankful for my parents, friends, and most of all my husband because of the help I get from them. I just want to go back to feeling confident in my ability to balance it all and give attention, love, and energy to all of the different aspects of who I am called to be! So, how do you do it? How do you keep all of your plates spinning?

God is more important than Dora

Our church is currently in the middle of an "old school revival" called Code Orange Revival which will consist of 12 nights of preaching from all-star preachers from around the country.  I can tell you this, after two nights, I am certainly inspired and refreshed and can't imagine what I will feel like after ten more experiences with God's word in this sort of outlet! That being said, it has already been a struggle to not let satan gain control of the momentum this church and specifically this revival has already had and will have on our family.  Let me tell you what I mean...
I was hoping to go to almost all of the services in person but then we realized that with the travel time, lines, and need for both girls to eat and sleep, we wouldn't be able to go nearly as often as we wanted to.  No worries, we can watch it live streaming online, right? Well, the services begin at 7:00, Riley's normal time to watch Dora.  If you know Riley, you know how important Dora is in her routine!  So I had to have an important talk with Riley when the time came for the service to start - that God is more important Dora!  At first she just stared at me like I had spoken in tongues, but then she actually accepted it.  I got to have a great conversation with her about the importance of learning about God and showing Him that in our house nothing is more important than loving Him and spending time with Him.  I felt so proud of her, she handled it very well!  Then, the icing on the cake, when the music started, she recognized the song, sang along, and raised her hand.  It's a good feeling knowing that we are raising our girls to praise and worship, believe and pray, even if it means missing Dora :)
Hopefully we will be able to go to at least three or four experiences in person but if not, I know that we are still putting effort into starting our year by immersing ourselves in God's love, power, and spirit and believing that this opportunity will bless us in 2012!

Back to Reality...

Yesterday was my first day back at work in 13 weeks.  This is my 10th year as a teacher and this August I started the school year very big pregnant and worked until September 30th.  The next week was spent preparing for Logan's arrival and making the most of the time we had left as a family of three. Then Logan was born on the morning of the 6th and I spent the next 12 weeks completely engaging in being Mommy to my girls.  I took advantage of the time at home to stay in pajamas a lot of days, snuggle with Logan as much as possible, play with Riley, and hang out with Jason.  I was able to go at our pace ~ whatever needed to be accomplished in a day, we could do it whenever we wanted to.  We spent time having play dates with other friends of mine who stay at home with their children. I was able to go to Riley's school Christmas concert, something I wouldn't be able to do if I was back at work.  My favorite time of day was when Riley would wake up and then Logan would wake up and we'd be at the table eating breakfast in our pajamas talking about the day.  I was able to make biscuits, muffins, monkey bread, pancakes....basically take time to make the day start out right!  Jason and I would be drinking our coffee and it just felt good, it felt perfect to be honest with you. I also loved being able to sing and rock both of my girls and tuck them in for naptime. I felt so proud of Riley watching her be a big sister.  I felt so blessed to be able to enjoy such quality time with Logan and watch her change so rapidly as she learned to control her head and body movements and of course the days when she started to smile and coo ~ what could be better? Obviously, I absolutely loved being at home with my girls.  I would give anything to be able to continue staying home and experience these special moments on a daily basis, but it just doesn't work out financially for me to do that. At least I have the weekends to look forward to!
I do love teaching and I do know that there are a LOT of people in today's economy who are in need of a job and can't get one so I know that I should be grateful and deep down I am. It's just hard to feel like I'm going back to work and missing out on everything I enjoyed so thoroughly at home.  I've gone from spending the entire day with my girls and Jason to leaving the house before anyone is awake and coming home in time to spend 2-3 hours with the girls before bedtime.
I was blessed to get the time that I had at home and at least I get to go back to a great group of kids who missed me and who I can work for the way I would want Riley and Logan's teacher to work for them. Now the best part of the day is going into Kendall's house and hearing Riley's excitement that I'm there and watching Logan's gummy smile as she recognizes that I'm there!