Tip: The End

Good Morning you beautiful bees! I am truly glad you are here! :)

Are you ready for a busy day of buzzing around your hive? Or is it more like your to-do list is making you feel too tired to tango before you even start, so you (ahem, me) check facebook one more time, look for one more person to im, make one more phone call to a friend, watch one more tv show? It is not laziness, it is overwhelmed-ness (well, laziness happens too--especially to those of us who are procrastinators and live by the motto "If you wait til the last minute, it only takes a minute to do" :) ).

I was talking to a beautiful bee yesterday about to-do lists. She said "I just wish I had a day where I FINISHED my to-do list.". That is a very common problem. We make a sliding to-do list, like an automatic chore dispenser: scratch one chore off the list? Another chore slides into its place. Even if we finish the whole piece of paper's worth of chores, we know there is always another one to slip onto our list. The to-do lists that NEVER END! ACK!

Here is an idea: What if we put an END on our to-do list for the day? We can make our chore list in the morning (BTW, even if it is a little late in the day, put the chores you have ALREADY DONE, and check them off. You did the chore, you should get to make the little checkmark! :) ). Let's put enough on there to where we are accomplishing a good, honest, reasonable amount of work. We are strong, capable bees, we can do quite a bit!

HOWEVER, as we prayerfully decide what goes on our chore list, at some point it will be time to say "Ok, that is enough for one day...the rest will wait til tomorrow.". At that point, let's put "THE END" on the list. That means "DONE. STOP. NO MORE CHORE VACANCY. As soon as I finish this last chore, I am DONE for the day.". Then we can spend a few moments being encouraged about that blessing: we will have accomplished much, but we also will have time to develop more of us that the Lord made us to be. We will be able to sit with our babies, snuggle with our sweetie, paint a picture, call a friend (without guilt!), enjoy a sunset. Plus, if our list is not too full, we can take those wonderful sweet moments DURING the day too!

Why? Because work is good, but so is rest, enjoyment, fellowship! We read about the work Jesus did, but we ALSO read a lot about Him lounging with His disciples, talking with people, relaxing, going away by Himself for quiet time to spend with our Father. He did not shirk work for rest, but He also did not shirk rest for work. There is a time for both, I think.

He gave us families to love. He gave us the entire universe as our playground! He is longing for us to hang out with Him. He wants us to do DILIGENTLY the work we have ahead of us, but then He also declared times to rest. Burnout or being overwhelmed was NOT His idea at all.

How does that sound? A "The End" on your chore list? Have you tried it? Are you scared to? Do you disagree? Feel free to let me know :)