Strength from God for My Balancing Act

As a little girl, I always dreamed of being a hard working woman. I played with my dolls and stuffed animals, but they weren’t my children like how my seven year old daughter plays. They were my students. I would set up my classroom in the dining room right in front of the bookshelf that had a whole set of encyclopedias and teach.

I wasn’t your typical little girl that dreamed of growing up, getting married and being the best mom ever. That wasn’t on my radar. I wanted to change the world with knowledge, I was reading by four and thought everyone else should be too!

My Mom worked full time and my dad was a stay at home disabled veteran. Whenever I needed to be picked up my dad was the one to show up to school or an extracurricular activity. My family was different from the norm, there were five of us kids, myself being the youngest and I loved it. I enjoyed time with my dad and as the youngest and last to go off to school I spent a lot of time with him. My mom showed me that as a woman, I could work hard and move up in the workplace. She was my role model.

My Plans vs God’s Plan

Now fast forward to me as an adult. I didn’t want to have kids or to get married. I wanted to work and spend all my time with Jesus. One day my best friend had a baby and I was honored to be named as one of the God-parents.

That sweet little baby stole my heart and awakened a mother’s heart inside me that I didn’t know I had. The moment I held her I knew that I would ask God for a family of my own. With a new direction for my life I began to pray for my family.

Today I have a husband and 5 children. I was blessed to be able to stay home with my kids while they were young and then go back into the workplace, homeschool and become a Children’s Minister. My life was moving one hundred miles an hour.

I was having a hard time keeping up and my first thought was what can I give up?

Related Post: 5 Lies I Have Believed About Being a Mom

Strength from God

After a very agonizing period of time spending with the Lord, discussing it with my husband and feeling like a failure. God answered “Nothing.” I battled with the idea that I had actually heard God correctly. He then started showing me different scripture about the strength and grace that He had given me to do the things He called me to do. Without a doubt, I know that I was called to be a wife, mother, minister, writer, and a working woman.

In the midst of all of this, God continues to help me return back to His Word and to His truth of who I am and what I am called to do. Strength from God gets me through each day. These days I have to consciously return back to Him, because when days don’t go as planned or the times I feel like I’ve missed the mark, this verse stands out to me.

“who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,”  

2 Timothy 1:9 NASB1995

God will give me things to do that are hard for me to do on my own but He is there with me. He has opened the door for me to be able to sit alone with Him, refocus and gain knowledge on how to complete my daily tasks and extend grace to myself when I don’t get everything done. I am reminded that it is okay for me to set a few thing’s  aside and refocus on Jesus because He is the one that gives me the strength to walk out my calling everyday. He teaches me how to balance it all even when I can’t do it all.

Join the Conversation

Are you ever tempted to throw in the towel or do you rely on strength from God to get you through each day?

About the Author