Prior to his death, our dog used to need walking around two in the morning. Thankfully, that is about the time that I usually got sleepy; so we would take a short trip around the yard, and then go to bed.
I
was blessed with the opportunity to sleep until ten; therefore, I received my
required amount of sleep. Yet, I know friends who do not have this luxury.
Their
sleep is interrupted by the dog needing to go outside, and when they finally
fall back to sleep, the alarm blares in their ear to remind them to start their
new day.
Making
breakfast for their family, packing lunches and shuffling children off to the school
bus precedes their quick shower and dressing time before they follow their
children out the door on their way to work.
Then,
a whole new set of stresses meet them as they walk through the door at their
vocation. Deadlines, appointments, balancing budgets, repairing consumer goods,
building, brick laying, serving tables, childcare, patient care, etc. consume
the next eight or more hours.
Afternoons
are taken up by a rush out the door to pick up their children from after school
programs, and a quick trip to the grocery store for needed items, before
heading home to tackle supper, homework, laundry, and other chores.
Exhausted,
they fall into bed to repeat the performance from the night before. This only
worsens as their children age, and their schedule fills with sports, scouting,
swimming, art and music events, and other extra-curricular events squeezed into
their afternoon routine.
Structured
activities may teach children teamwork and enhance their God-given talents, but
it prevents them from having the opportunity to find other self-motivated
activities that promote leadership, decision-making, and problem-solving
skills, as well as creativity and relaxed interaction with friends and
neighbors.
They
are so busy with schoolwork and afterschool events that they cannot relax and
enjoy time interacting with their family, as well as God's beautiful creation.
Parents
often exacerbate these issues by adding their personal gym time, their own
social life and volunteering opportunities to their schedule. Tired and
drained, they have little mental, emotional, or physical energy left over to
feel fulfilled in their private time or couple time.
Anxiety-related
illnesses and depression accompany a life too filled with stress. Frustration,
grouchiness, irritation, depression, touchiness, etc. seep into their life, and
they wonder why they fight so many illnesses.
Prayer:
Father
God, we know without a doubt that You care about every aspect of our life. We
come to You for wisdom and guidance in prioritizing our activities and
including time to pray about every activity we schedule (Proverbs 3:5-6). We
want to walk in the center of Your will for our life.
Help
us to avoid stress and to enter Your rest, so that we can deal with unexpected
issues that may demand more of us than we are humanly capable of giving. As
parents, we often deprive our self of Your peace and rest, and we end up
teaching our children to follow suit. Remind us not to rob them of the joy of
free playtime with neighborhood friends.
Thought
for the Day:
The
only solution for this sad tale is to prioritize our time, follow the leading
of God's Spirit for each moment of our day, respectfully decline invitations or
demands that do not fit into God's desire for our life, teach our children to
accomplish chores at home by helping with the housework, schedule play time
each day for self and family, make services with our church family a priority,
stop multi-tasking and focus on each moment, eliminate distractions, stop being
a slave to the phone and social media; and most importantly, make time to wind
down each evening as a prelude to getting quality and an adequate quantity of
sleep.
