one step at a time

FROM "A LESSON LEARNED"
While my sister and brother-in-law were at church camp with their youth group, I watched my niece and nephew for the entire week! It was alot of work but it was also alot of FUN!!! The beginning of the week was much easier then the end of the week. Elia did great being away from mom and dad. Sure, she missed them and would speak to them on the phone and talk about them from time to time but overall she just went with the flow and had alot of fun with her cousins. Noah did great too! But as each day passed I could tell that Noah was beginning to miss his mommy. Obviously, he's too young to tell me with words but he definitely began acting a bit different the further into the week we went. By the last night he spent at our house the poor baby was feeling pretty sad...and DID NOT want to go to sleep without his mom and without being in his own home. I knew his routine was mixed up and he was probably very confused about where mom and dad were so I just plain ol' felt bad for the boy. The very last evening Elia and Noah were at my house, I wanted to make sure that I got all of their stuff washed, repacked and ready to go the next morning. I also wanted to get my own house at least picked up a little before I went to bed. Noah had other plans. Poor Noah just didn't want to be put down. I walked him up and down the hallway, gave him a bottle, changed his diaper, burped him more times then I can count, gave him a bath, let him get naked and even gave him some teething medicine thinking he might be in pain but nothing was working. I would lay Noah down in his bouncer and try to pick up a few toys but wouldn't get far before Noah was crying. So I would bounce and sing again and then lay him down on his play mat and turn on some music. Same thing. After picking up one dish or one piece of laundry Noah was crying and letting me know how upset he was with this entire situation. Finally, I tried the fail-safe...CARTOONS!! I set his bumbo seat up in front of the TV and turned on PBS Sprout. At first, I thought my little trick was going to work. Noah was in awe of the cartoon playing before him as I scurried around the living room trying my hardest to get everything picked up as fast as I possibly could. As my brow began to sweat and my eyes darted from toy to toy strung across my floor I thought maybe I just might make some progress here...and then the tears came again. Bummer. After being hypnotized by the TV for only a few short moments (and after only being able to pick up a few loose items off of the living room floor) Noah let out a big wail followed by a full on breakdown. I quickly scooped him up and tried the whole baby soothing routine over again. Bathing. Lotion. Walking. Bottle. Binky. Blanky. Lullabies. More walking. Silly faces? But unfortunately, nothing seemed to be working. I finally broke down and called my sister looking for any trick that might calm poor little Noah. Thankfully, my sister shared with me the key to getting Noah to sleep and within a few minutes he was calm, full, dry and fast asleep in his pack n play. Whew!
Lesson Learned? That evening there was definitely a struggle going on. No, not a struggle between me and my nephew but a struggle between me and myself! I desperately wanted to pick up my house and get the kids packed up but I was torn by Noah's need to be cuddled and given 100% of my attention. Noah needed me but I wanted to move on. I thought I could do it all! How often do you find yourself in this exact same situation in your relationship with the Lord? Or simply in life as I did that night? There's a ton to do, it's all closing in on you and you're running around frantic, sweating profusely and trying to balance it all instead of focusing on one thing at a time. If I had just taken the time Noah needed, slowed down and taken a breath I could have avoided alot of heartache, sweat and turmoil. There was a to-do list before me, literally laid out on the floor and crying on my shoulder, and instead of taking them one thing at a time I tried to juggle them all and instead of succeeding and getting everything done I failed miserably and ended up having to ask for help! While in the process getting Noah in such a tizzy that it took me twice as long to get him calmed down as it should have! Why did I torture myself!? And baby Noah!? I myself, as I hope some of you have as well, do this same thing with the Lord and what He has called me to do. God has called me to a specific purpose. Sometimes that purpose makes life chaotic and other times it's more simple. During the chaotic times, though, we have to be sure that we focus on what we're doing in the correct order. One thing has to be completed before we can move on to the next. Just like my chore filled evening while caring for Noah, in life, we can accomplish so much more and with much less effort if we will simply take care of one task at a time instead of picking everything up at once and trying to juggle it all. During my night at home with Noah, if I had simply focused on him, gave him everything he needed and 100% of my energy he most likely would have been calm, soothed and asleep much earlier then I succeeded at doing after so much stress and anxiety. After putting him to sleep, I then could have focused on the rest of my house work in peace and been able to accomplish THAT task in a much more timely and stress free manner as well! Wow! Who woulda thunk it!? Less really is more! Yes, the Lord sometimes asks us to do alot of things but He promises to never give us more then we can handle...the problem is that sometimes we choose to pick up more on our own then the Lord has ever asked us to do at once and then blame him when we get stressed, over worked and full of anxiety and fear. Next time you are feeling overwhelmed, look at what you are carrying. Are you really supposed to be carrying all of that at once? Can you focus on one thing at a time and relieve yourself some of the pressure you are feeling? Pray to God, tell Him how you're feeling and seek His words. You may very well be carrying more then He has asked you to. There is more then likely an easier way and that "simple" way may just take less time to accomplish when you finally let go and go with the flow.