I have been doing a lot of thinking and praying about my task load recently.
When I am feeling over burdened, be it buried in tasks or emotionally stretched, I have been working on asking myself, "whose yoke is it?" I have been startled at just how often I put on a yoke (claim a problem or task) that is not mine to claim.
For example, sometime between Christmas and New Years, Mataya decided she no longer wanted to be potty trained. She had been completely potty trained for at least six weeks. She was potty trained for real. I was not coaching her, reminding her, or bribing her to go. She was just handling it. And all of the sudden she just quit. My initial reaction was guilt. Christmas had been busy. She had often been in new places and overly tired. She was left with her sisters several times, and they stuck her in a diaper so she would not bother them with potty issues. I figured I should have handled something differently. After all if my toddler is struggling it must be my fault, right?
Or is it?
Learning to go potty is Mataya's yoke to bear. I can not do it for her. I can not bribe her into it. I can not discipline her into it. Only Mataya has the power to go potty or not go potty. Is she capable of being completely potty trained. Yep. Can I facilitate potty training. Sure. However, facilitate is ALL I can do. The rest is her burden to bear.
So - after a week of cleaning up puddles of pee, Miss TayTay is back in a diaper. And I am choosing to feel no stress about it. Because it is her issue, not mine.
I could give you at least 20 other examples of times my eyes have been open recently to my tendency to put on a yoke that is not mine to bear. Now this does not mean that I think that the only "problems" I need to deal with are my own. That is not true. Scripture says "My yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matt 11:30 (Meaning what Jesus calls us each to do is manageable.) It also says we are to "bear one another's burdens." Gal 6:2 Sometimes my yoke IS bearing the yoke of another.
For example, Krissy begins school January 25. At that point I will be keeping my grandson almost daily. I am not sure how I will get all my work done (the work I do for our business) with both babies - but because I am certain the Lord has called me to care for my daughter and her son at this time, I am also certain that He will provide a way for me to complete my book work for our business.
I tend to make a list in my mind each morning of the things I need to get done throughout the day. I pray about it. I run this list against the "is this my yoke" test, and proceed full force into my day. And some days it still feels like waaaaaayyyyyy too much.
I was asking the Lord about this, and wouldn't you know it, he pointed out another bad habit I have.
Sigh.
When my day is going smoothly I often add a "bonus" task or 12 to my list. Oh, Mataya is playing happily? Better take advantage of that and run upstairs to vacuum. That went OK, so I will sneak in cleaning a bathroom or two. Pretty soon I notice that I am feeling frustrated because Mataya is whining "Hold you! Hold you! Rock!" while I am rushing through supper preparations. Chad arrives home to a needy toddler and an exhausted wife - but the upstairs bathrooms are clean.
Was the trade off worth it?
NOPE.
Did my added tasks glorify God in any way?
NOPE. NOPE. NOPE.
Do you do that? Think about it a bit next time you are totally wiped at the end of the day. Did you take on a yoke that was not yours to bear? Did you pray about your task list for the day, only to add multiple needless items to it? (Sometimes interruptions are divine appointments. We do have to be flexible. However wise and flexible are two very different things.)
I am most certainly a work in progress. Seeking to serve Him well. Learning that His burden is light. He will give me rest. I just have to be obedient.
(I am feeling great compassion for my strong willed children. Learning obedience is hard. Really hard. Praying I model mercy and compassion and patience with my children as I ask for obedience from them. I certainly receive lavish amounts of those gifts daily from my Heavenly Father.)
