Help for the Overwhelmed

I have a confession to make.

As a pastor's wife, I sometimes get overwhelmed.

It usually comes at a time when I look ahead and there are a lot of events crowding my calendar. I am a very disciplined person, and I have an organized plan of what I will get done along with when I will do it. The problem is, sometimes life doesn't cooperate. Emergencies happen. Phone calls interrupt. People need me. Appointments pile up. The unexpected becomes the rule. My husband says, "Honey, I really need you to do this." And my carefully-crafted plan falls apart. And then, usually I fall apart.

Can you relate?

Right now I am beginning to feel the warning signs. It has been a busy summer, with one thing after another, and all of a sudden summer is over and the events of fall are HERE. Several appointments and long-planned-for personal events are on my calendar. Our church picnic leads into our fall missions conference, and the missions conference takes a lot of planning: scheduling, providing for housing and meal needs of our guests, correspondence, preparing information packets, decorating the auditorium. Part of the missions conference is our Fall Ladies Luncheon - more planning, although I am so grateful for the wonderful and talented ladies at our church who take so much off of me. I still have my Sunday School class lessons to write and teach, and Fall Ladies Bible study is on the not-so-distant horizon. My husband and I are trying to plan a belated anniversary get-away for just the two of us, something we have not had in so long I can't remember if we EVER did it...and all of these things in addition to my normal day-to-day responsibilities threaten to overwhelm me.

The first thing to do when I start to become overwhelmed is this: just do the next right thing. I read or heard that from someone, and I can't remember who, but it is so true. Just do the next thing, one at a time, and the Lord will order my steps if I depend on Him. Which leads me to the other important thing: delight myself in the Lord! One of my very favorite verses, which I have memorized, is Psalm 94:19 - "In the multitude of my thoughts within me, Thy comforts delight my soul." Being overwhelmed is definitely a "multitude of thoughts." I have learned God's comforts cannot delight my soul if I am not in the Word and taking the time I need with Him!

One of my greatest passions is journaling as part of my time with the Lord. I have beside me a stack of journals I have written in since the late 1990's. In them is a wealth of prayers, scriptures, thoughts, lessons, answers, blessings, quotes, musings, and encouragements. The are one of my most prized possessions because they are a reflection of my walk with the Lord. I can go back anytime I want to and re-read things God taught me and blessings He gave me.

Over the years I have taught ladies in our ministries whole lessons on the joy of journaling, and in my next blog post I plan to share why and how it is so important. I hope to inspire you to begin to include journaling as part of your time with the Lord.

Keep on keeping on!
Kathi