As a kid, I would be willing to bet that you at some point played with a bouncy ball. You know- the brightly colored tiny rubber ball that came out of the quarter egg machine from the grocery store?
My brother and I would take such delight in chucking those balls to the floor with great force to see if we could make them touch the ceiling, usually with great success. Throw a ceiling fan into the mix and now we have a real party, playing duck and cover to not get "out" via being touched by several whirling bouncy balls all over the room (sorry Mom).
As a parent, I now despise these things. Cue the tears any time (more often than not) my child's bouncy ball ends up under the fridge, in the busy parking lot, or down the street sewer drain. Not to mention, some of the bouncy balls have literally quadroopled in size (some are bigger than a golf ball now). The audacity!
Let's take a quick stroll down analogy alley today, shall we?
In life we are all jugglers- constantly juggling several "balls" at one time:
Got a job? There's a ball or ten depending on your line of work.
Got a spouse? Add another two balls.
Got kids? Add five more balls per child.
Any of those kiddos fosters? Adopted? Special needs? Add two or more balls each.
How about your extended family? Add some more balls per family member.
How about some friends? Add a ball for each you talk to weekly, maybe two for those ones that are a little more high maintnece.
Got a house? Or better yet some house projects? Add five to ten more balls depending on how DIY you truly are (and not think you are).
Got any small groups? Church groups? Volunteer roles? PTO? Teams you are a part of? Add a ball for each of those.
How about leading any of those groups above? Add another three balls for each that you lead.
What about hobbies or self care? Add another ball per each weekly activity you do.
Alright, now add all those balls up. Whew, if you are anything like me I'm a tad stressed out just trying to count them all up!
But now let's assess each one. Some of these balls are made out of glass- you drop them and they will break. They are hard to repair once broken or left on the floor. We really cannot drop them.
These are things like your marriage, your children, and even your health. We need to take good care of these things always. No, your eight year old will not understand "mommy needs to juggle all these other balls this week/month/year, so please take the following week/month/year to raise yourself". I have personally day dreamed about the outcome of that and it's not pretty (hahaha)!
But the majority of these balls are bouncy balls. You can drop them several times and they will bounce right back (or roll back in some cases). They will always be there and won't truly break. Things like your job, your house, your close friendships, a team you are a part of, or the PTO.
These sorts of roles and tasks will always be around, whether you choose to focus on them in this season or the next.
I find in life, that the hardest part of this analogy is truly assessing which balls are glass versus bouncy balls. Somedays it can feel like everything is demanding your attention and if you drop just one ball all heck will break loose.
Well friend, I want to encourage you to take inventory of the season you are in. Determine which roles, tasks, or functions are glass balls versus which are bouncy balls. If you need discernment, talk to a close friend and walk through your lists together.
The next step- is to remember this list. Tuck it away somewhere for when your life gets really crazy! I personally am in a crazy busy season and struggled the past week to figure out why I was so gosh darn stressed. Turns out, I forgot to drop some of my bouncy balls. I kept holding on and balancing them like they were made of fine china.
Turns out, they are not. I needed my sanity back. I needed some margin in my day to enjoy time with my spouse and kiddos. I needed some time to recharge my introverted battery and detox from the craziness going on at the office.
You can bet on this: If the devil can't make you bad, he's gunna try to make you busy. He will sneakily build your calendar up with so many brightly colored bouncy balls that you'll need a suitcase to carry them all. You may be lead to believe you are doing all the things in Jesus name, when in fact you are going to be running on fumes, spreading seeds of deseparation, wondering why the heck you signed up for all this in the first place.
God doesn't want us to become one man bands or expert jugglers staring in our own three ring circus. He simply wants us to love him with all our heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37).
So the next time you are feeling overwhelmed by your life's to-do list, start dropping those bouncy balls one by one. Or if you are like me, start dropping them by the handful. Your peace is worth it. Your sanity is worth it. Your family and children are so worth it!
"You give me hope, yea You give me
No doubt 'cause I believe
You give me hope, yeah, You give me
You give me Hope!"