Fill 'er Up!

I especially love doing 2 activities during my week. I love my women's small group/bible study and I LOVE my kickboxing class at the gym. I often find myself giving up one or the other to do something else, though.


It is not like the other activities I give them up for are not really important. Like two weeks ago it was my son's Halloween parade and songfest at school and last week it was painting a friends house that recently flooded or sometimes coffee with a friend. While these activities fill me up in special ways, I miss what I have given up. So, this week I struggled with this and I felt selfish. I have made myself believe that my favorite activities are selfish because they are all about me. Honestly, I was feeling resentful of the things that took my away.


In reality, I have made my favorite activities negotiable. I have given others reason to believe they are flexible because I have told them so by either my words or my actions. I have led them to believe that my small group and my kickboxing class are not that important and that other activities can trump them.


This is what I have come to realize, though. Those 2 activities fill me up so I can be a better person to everyone. And this is what I give up when I miss them.


1. Fellowship and friendship

2. Spiritual exercise and growth

3. Physical exercise

4. Stress release

5. Much needed time to myself.

6. Commitment to the women in my group

So, why do I give them up? I can come up with a couple reasons:

1. I am a mother and most moms put EVERYONE before themselves. We just are naturally caretakers and the nurturers of the home. This is not necessarily a healthy thing to do, but alas, my mom did it and still does. Many of my mom friends do it and so do I.

2. I am a Christ follower and believe I am supposed to put others before myself. Yeah, this one is the one I struggle with the most. I don't struggle with it because I don't put others needs ahead of my own. I struggle with it because I do it too much. And I end up feeling drained and even sometimes resentful. NOT because of what I have done for others, but because I am not taking care of myself.

Someone reminded me this week. Jesus took lots of time to himself to rest. God wants us to lead and start our week from a place of rest. In Genesis each day is defined by evening and then morning. We rest in the evening and start our day fresh - renewed and rested. That is why activities that renew us and give us rest should come first so we can serve our families and friends better. It is my goal to not miss these activities that fill me up. I am a nicer person and have more energy to serve others more because of these activities.

It is like a gas tank in a car. The car needs to be filled up with gas to go. My small group and exercise are like gas in my car.

Except today. L is home sick from school with a fever. Today, my car sits in the garage while I take care of my little sick boy. That trumps it all of course.

If you are reading this and feeling drained, ask yourself the question, "What fills me up?" What is the gas in your car? Then find some time to do it!