“You haven’t laughed in a long time,” my son solemnly told me.

Surprised, I stared at him, “What do you mean? I laugh all the time!”

“No, you don’t,” he insisted. “You only laugh when other people are around, not around us.”

His words were like a double-edged sword piercing my heart, the truth of his words finally reaching through me. For months, I’d been busy with homeschooling from the farm, being a wife, a mom, a teacher, a businesswoman, not to mention my life at home being a chef, a chauffeur, a laundromat, a housecleaner, and every other job known to moms.

There was no time for laughter or jokes. No more time for read-aloud stories at bedtime or even prayers together every evening. We were rushing from here to there, finally making it home every day in time for quick baths, a thrown-together dinner, and a jump into bed. I had online classes in the evening and the kids needed to be asleep before they started so I could focus, not to mention the writing for other sites I was contributing to, or the accounting for the farm I did late in the evening. Just no time anymore.

I was ashamed.

Too busy for family time 

Just like that, I’d let my schedule become so full that I couldn’t even find the time to laugh with my children, but most importantly, I’d neglected our family devotions and our much-anticipated reading together every night.

In the first few months of working full-time in the farm office for Hubs, I’d become overwhelmed, thinking I had to do everything on my own and be everything to everyone. My shoulders were tighter than a wrung-out dishrag where I’d held in all the tension and my face was about to crack from the lack of laughter.

I had no one to blame but myself. God had spoken to me many times through my devotions, my husband and children, and well-meaning friends, but I was so stubborn. I insisted on carrying my heavy load.

One day in the midst of my busyness, God gave me this verse from Psalm 18:19–

He brought me out to a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me.

After I read it, I walked out the back door, across the yard, and through the fields, taking in the vast blue sky, the scent of dirt from the freshly plowed fields, and viewing these huge open spaces as a gift instead of a curse. I suddenly realized these open spaces were a place where I could clear my mind, focus on my relationship with the Lord and know that He would reveal what was most important for Him to me. These open spaces were a gift from God, not meant to harm or overwhelm me, but to heal and bring clarity and wisdom. Heal all those places I had begun to crack from the pressure. To give me clarity to see where I’d taken on too much and the wisdom to make the best choices with my time.

Choosing to slow down

Where are your open spaces, your spacious places? Where are the places where you can clear your mind, spend time with the Lord, and identify the priorities in your life? If you don’t have a place like that, I encourage you to ask God to give you a spacious place.

Our children are watching us. If you’ve been a mom for any length of time, then you know your actions are magnified in your children because they mimic our actions to the extreme.

What will our children’s attitudes about busyness be? Will they be so overwhelmed and stressed because they see us breaking our necks trying to please everyone, including ourselves, with all the rushing around we do? Racing to soccer practice from school. Shoveling dinner down our throats so we can make it to Bible study in time –because we are leading it. Foregoing rest on Sunday to get caught up on chores.

What are our actions as a busy woman saying to our husbands? Our children?

Are you ready to free up your schedule and focus on your priorities? Your faith? Your family?

Busy people rarely give their best to the ones they love. They serve leftovers –leftover time, leftover emotions and leftover energy. They’re too exhausted or too preoccupied, failing to give their loved ones the attention they deserve. Our families cannot survive on leftovers.

Let’s give them our best.

Find those spaces today to relax and rest, soaking up God’s truths, remembering our faith and families come before everything else. Take control of your schedule and learn to say no to some things. You and your family will be better for it.

Come back next week for 3 Ways to Combat Busyness!