We have had some great semesters and we have had some really hard semesters. And this one? Well, this is the busiest semester we have ever had. My motto for the semester is...It is what it is. Because that's just really all there is to it. It is what it is. There is no changing it, there's no cutting back, there is nothing to adjust. We just need to get through it. It is what it is...and It. Is. Crazy!
It's not just one thing, it's many things. Ministry on campus in the fall is always a little crazy and busy, and since we are the only two staff here this semester is no exception. And yet we never feel like we're doing enough. There is always more that could be done, and more that we want to do. But for now we just have to trust that we are doing what we can and that God will work and move where we cannot. On Tuesdays I meet with a couple of student women for discipleship and it just turned out that the time they could meet was during a day that Joe was not able to be home. So the girls come over to my house and as we talk about Jesus and the gospel and the Holy Spirit and the trinity I am quite literally bouncing a baby. Oh, those girls are so patient with me. And I can only hope and pray that during our time they get a taste of Jesus and a glimpse of what it looks like (the good and the ugly) to be a mom who is doing her best to follow Christ. Oddly, through all the craziness of this semester, I have been more involved with ministry than I have been in a while. I have never been busier, but I am learning to let people into my craziness and to welcome them into my life when it's crazy and busy and messy. I'm learning.
So, ministry has been good and busy (and I am so looking forward to next semester when we'll both have a little more time with the students). And then, of course, life is also busy because we have a baby. He may be the sweetest baby EVER but babies, no matter how sweet, are still a lot of work. I prayed often before he was born that God might somehow give us a laid back baby this time around. I am happy to share that Liam is about as laid back as we are going to get. As long as he is getting some attention and is well fed and rested he is mostly all smiles. But he is still with me all of the time and needs to be held a lot...because he's a baby and that's just the stage he is in (it can be tiring, but I am really trying to soak it all in). Mostly though having a baby is exhausting because I haven't been sleeping through the night in almost 5 months. It is actually quite easy to get our sweet Liam to sleep, but he still wants to get up every 2-3 hours at night to eat. Most of the time he goes blissfully right back to sleep when he's done eating but it is still exhausting to be woken multiple times a night. Good thing I love him so much!
Life is also busy because the kids are now both in school...and two different schools at that. In many ways this is less work than homeschooling, but I'm still busy with the baby while they are at school so it doesn't feel like down time. And because they are in different schools it is quite busy getting them both to and from school each day. We are able to carpool with friends for Lily and that makes a huge difference...not sure we could do it without them!
So these things have made for a busy semester, but by far the biggest factor has been Joe's EMT class. This class is CRAZY. Seriously. We honestly just really had no idea how much work it would be. Because on top of ministry work and family life with a baby Joe is trying to juggle this crazy class which includes night classes 3 days a week, 12 hour days of clinical/field work at least one day a week (this week it is almost four), tests, papers, studying, and just generally so much work. It will be worth it in the end (I know it will be) but right now it just feels crazy. There are often days when Joe doesn't even see the kids. It's hard and it's even harder on him trying his best to balance everything.
But it is what it is. And we just need to get through it. Just another two weeks and we'll be there. We are in the home stretch (but sadly the home stretch will the busiest weeks of them all). But do you know what? In the busiest semester of our lives God is meeting me. He is getting me through in ways that I wasn't even expecting. The exhaustion and craziness that might have sent me over the edge before are somehow okay. Tiring, yes, but okay. He is giving me strength to get through (and some days do even more than simply survive)!:) I am so thankful that I don't have to live this life in my own strength (because that is just long gone these days)!
God is getting us through and next semester is going to feel like vacation in comparison! And until then there is this...
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