Is it Enough?

I read a great article a couple of weeks ago about how we all have a "home team." For most of us our "home team" consists of our immediate family and a few close friends. The kind of folks that you know would drop everything and just come, if you needed them. Also, the kind that you know what flavor milkshake they love and possibly you've even seen them without their make-up on . Anyway, the writer talked about how she struggled with letting her "home team" get a little too big. If you are trying to be everything to too many folks, they all suffer.

The article got me thinking seriously about the commitments that I accept and the activities that I participate in. How do these things affect my ability to minister and aid my "home team?" I can honestly say that I have gotten caught up at times in the myth that I can do it all since I don't have a real job. I think that many stay-at-home moms have fallen into the trap of believing that caring for their family, raising their children, tending to their households is not enough. Maybe part of it is our own fault, too. We feel like we need something else, something outside of our homes, to validate us as successful.

For most of the families that have stay-at-home mothers, there are sacrifices involved. Many of them are financial, others involved the lack of accolades or career-paths put on hold. And, I'd wager to say that most if not all of those decisions of sacrifice were made for the sake of their family, not the sake of the PTO or this board position or that volunteer shift. Now, don't get me wrong, I feel like I am in a unique position to be involved in a lot of opportunities that other moms might not have the luxury to participate in. I definitely think I should do my share, but I also want my time to be viewed as valuable too. I also want to be confident in my decision when I have to say no to things, that it's not so I can have more time to sit around with my feet up. Instead it's so I can devote more time to my family and my responsibilities at home, which I'm still continually figuring out how to balance.

So, I'm challenging myself to look at the tasks I do each day, the duties I fulfill, that often seem mundane as a ministry to my "home team." I definitely feel like this is where God has called me to be at this season in my life. And, because of that, it is enough.