Wife, mama, christian, co-worker, employee, sister, daughter, aunt, friend, chauffeur, chef, housekeeper, neighbor, protector, enforcer, nurse, comforter, nurturer….just a few of the many hats we ladies endeavor to wear simultaneously.
With summer coming to a rapid close, I have found myself entering this new season of sending my first child into public schools, all while attempting to balance the chaos of working part-time, having dinner cooked for my family each night, keeping the house from falling apart, getting all the kids from here to there, and juggling the rotating schedule of a fireman’s wife.
It started me thinking about how overwhelming being a woman can be. How much pressure we place on ourselves to wear ALL the hats at once, and wear them all well. More often than not we feel the pull to be everything to everyone. Our jobs are endless.
I can honestly say I never imagined all the different roles I would play on a daily basis.
We don’t want to wear one hat better than the other. We recurrently feel if one hat falls off, they might all come toppling down. Oh and don’t forget, we certainly don’t wanna ask for help or admit we can’t do it alone. We put lots of misplaced pressure on ourselves to be the best Mama, the best wife, best friend, best employee. Sound familiar at all?
I don’t know about you guys, but sometimes I feel like I forget who I really am under the mound of hats. So wrapped up in being who everyone else needs me to be that I’m not even sure I know who that is sometimes.
But then I quickly remember the most important hat I wear…the hat that never comes off…the one that reminds me of my true identity. In Christ alone I remember who I am, and who I should be first and foremost each and every day.
What would life look like for me on the daily if I took ALL the overhwhelm and ALL the pressure and anxiety, and just put it all at Jesus’ feet?
What if I made God my priority every morning, instead of my schedule and to-do list? How would my life change? What if I placed each task in God’s hands instead of trying to do it all myself? How much more peaceful would I feel?
Suddenly that list doesn’t seem so impossible anymore.
God doesn’t want us to fret over what might happen tomorrow or next week. We aren’t promised a tomorrow anyway. He wants us to focus on the now, and his presence in the now. One day at a time. After all, isn’t God the reason for everything we do?
The point is, when God is our focus, the other hats don’t matter. When we are intentional to put Him first at the start of all our days, every other hat we have to wear falls into place. And we will wear them much more patiently, gracefully, and purposefully.
That’s how God works in and through us. And we can rest in HIS ability, rather than focusing on our own INABILITY.
It’s hard for me to admit that most days my hats are completely out of order. So don’t be thinking I’m the Mama that’s got it all together. But you know what I have found? My heart is much more anxious when I try to do what God means for me to give to Him. When I try to take the control out of His capable hands.
On the contrary, when I put Him first, He sustains me when I feel like I’m drowning. He prompts me to remember His word says that, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me (Phil 4:13). And strength is exactly what He provides when I have my hats on my head in order. I even somehow find myself feeling more energized. More cheerful. More capable. When our hearts are faced towards Him, it’s amazing how our minds, attitudes, and our actions follow suit.
Whatever hats you may be juggling to wear, let’s remember to keep them in proper order. That all the responsibilities and tasks we have listed out on paper, in our phones, or just in our brains; they are all God given. All the things we feel we must get done and want to get accomplished…none of it would even be possible had he not blessed us with it: the family to feed, clean up after, cook for, drive here and there. That job he blessed us with that provides for our families….It’s ALL through Him, from Him, and by Him. We tend to forget that, don’t we?
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Matthew 6: 33
Growing in Grace 