Balance

A Piece of Chocolate Week 20 “Balance” 2-7-08 I have never been a fan of “gravity”. Here’s why. In my case, it has always led to my demise! It may be no shock to you to know that I am the “Queen of the Fall”. I have fallen, tripped, slipped, slided, and crashed so many times- that if I have to go to the dentist for more “corrective” work I’ll start carrying my own supply of Novocain! Picture this…It was a warm summer day in 1986. I was at the pool with my sister and we were about to ride our bikes home. Like usual, I waited till the very last minute to come home and still be “on time”. Poor choice. I was in such a rush that I didn’t pay any attention to where my towel was dangling. It dangled it’s way in between the spokes of my bike. My back tire flew up over my head and I did my very first aerial forward flip landing on the street with my mouth. Holy Smokes did that hurt. When I got up I started assessing the damage. “Hmmm” I thought, “Do I have gravel in my mouth?” No…those were the remains of my two front teeth. So there I was pulling my bike home with the towel cause I couldn’t get it out, along with my rough, gravely teeth. What a sore site. I finally arrive home and one of my sisters likened my broken teeth with a Certs breath mint sucked down so far that it looked like two little fangs. I could have avoided all that drama had I just left a little sooner and paid closer attention to where my towel was hanging. “Balance”. There are so many things that demand our time, money, and effort. Can we ever achieve some kind of balance? Some of you know that I just got a part time job. This is the first time that I’ve worked since 2001 when I started school. And now I’ve got a crazzzzzy/fantastic toddler destroying my home! When do I do my Biblestudy, be a wife, cook, clean, play “Mommy”, and work? I can hear all of you gorgeous multitaskers say “Dede, it just takes balance, and balance takes time!” Well your right! Jesus is the perfect example for this lesson. One of the techniques that he used, was to mix business with pleasure. For instance, he was invited as a guest to a wedding, and still made sure that there was an abundance of wine for the reception. Another time he sat down to have a meal and it ended up being the “Last Supper”. Different situations called for different responses and that’s how He kept his balance. Constructing an organized pie chart and a world class power point won’t help us be more conscience about time management to create balance. The important thing to remember is that the different seasons of life are just that…periods of time that come and go. Two things that you can do with me starting right now is to “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself” . We can try to our wits end to achieve balance on our own but- I want to assure you from personal experience that self-centered balance will only result in a balancing act that will fail. The Lord never questions how to live a balanced lifestyle. He just is. We can have that same assurance as long as we Love God and others the way we love ourselves. Doing those things will eliminate many other things that just maybe we shouldn’t be doing in the first place. AMEN! Homework: Love God and others the way you love yourself. In Him,Dede