Crazy Busy

We spent yesterday resting and recovering from the party. Jake encouraged me to sleep in, which was glorious! You know you’re a mom of little people when sleeping in until 8am feels like a mini-vacation. 😉

Baylen’s party on Saturday was super low key, but it’s amazing how any extra work on top of the usual energy it takes to care for the kids completely wipes me out. I simply don’t have a lot of extra capacity right now, so a relaxing Sunday to catch up on rest was just what I needed. While the kids napped, we hung out in the living room and watched football (well, Jake watched football). I read a book called Crazy Busy by Kevin DeYoung, which I’ll tell you more about in a minute.

Something that God’s been placing on my heart lately is thinking through what it means to have margin built into our lives. It’s so easy to fill up our schedules, and want to say yes to a million things. As we’ve settled into our lives here in Minnesota, have landed on a home church, and have started to meet people, the opportunities to fill up our calendar have increased. Of course we want and need to be in community with those around us. But with little kids who nap and have early bed times, this season of our life doesn’t lend itself to having oodles of time to be out and about. Family time is our priority, so when we choose activities that are outside of our four walls, we need to be really confident that they are worth giving up quality time with our kids. We don’t want to raise them in a constant state of frenzy. When we get crazy busy, we get stressed and aren’t able to live the way God wants us to, or be the examples for our kids that He wants us to be. So what does living a balanced life look like?

That question had been stirring in my heart, when my friend Kevin Lipp reached out to me a couple of weeks ago. God’s timing is perfect.  He works for Crossway Publishing and told me about a book he’d been working on called Crazy Busy. He’s a graphic designer and  created all the cool infographics for it. (Sidenote: Kevin is amazingly talented! If you ever need design work done, he’s your guy. Check out his website!) Anyway, he sent me a copy of the book to read, and asked me to review it. He thought it might be something that many of you would benefit from, and after reading it, I absolutely agree.

I needed to read this, and I think you’ll feel the same way. It’s a quick read, but will completely challenge you to be intentional with how you fill your time. It’s not about saying “no” to everything and not being busy, but it’s about figuring out what God wants you to be busy with. When we seek Jesus first, He will order our lives in a way that encourages us to do the things He’s called us to, and gives us freedom to lay aside the ones he hasn’t.

I wanted to share some quotes with you that struck a chord with me. There are so many and I had a difficult time choosing, but I’ll leave you with a few.

“It’s not wrong to be tired. It’s not wrong to feel overwhelmed. It’s not wrong to go through seasons of complete chaos. What is wrong – and heartbreakingly foolish and wonderfully avoidable – is to live life with more craziness than we want because we have less Jesus than we need.” (p. 118)

“People like to say life is a marathon, not a sprint, but it’s actually more like a track workout. We run hard and then rest hard. We charge a hill and then chug some Gatorade. We do some stairs, then some 200s, and then a few 400s. In between, we rest. Without it, we’d never finish the workout.” (p. 93)

“Jesus understood his mission. He was not driven by the needs of others, though he often stopped to help hurting people. He was not driven by the approval of others, thought he cared deeply for the lost and the broken. Ultimately, Jesus was driven by the Spirit. He was driven by his God-given mission.” (p. 56)

I really can’t say enough good things about this book. Actually, I put a reminder in my phone to re-read it again in six months because I’ll likely need another kick in the pants to re-prioritize my life. It’s something we need to be intentional about. We don’t want to give God our leftovers. Rather, we need to let Him be our first portion.

If you too, feel stressed out by the demands of a busy life, I strongly recommend Crazy Busy. It’s a great book to read on your own or would also be a good one to discuss in a small group. Visit the website and check out the study guide that’s available.

May we seek Jesus and allow Him to prioritize our lives!

Amber

*This post is part of a 31 Day Challenge to write about Seeing God in Ordinary Moments. Visit my landing page here for links to all the posts.

P.S. For more reflections on parenthood and life, follow us on Facebook (Hun Let’s Run) and on Instagram: @ambermariekuiper and @jakekuiper! We’d also love for you to subscribe to our Hun, Let’s Run Podcast! For more info about joining our fitness community as a customer or coach, please email us at amber@mommysmetime.com!