Cutting Back

I know we are not the only family that struggles with busyness. It has been something that has haunted us even long before we had kids. The thing is, there are just lots of wonderful and worthwhile groups, activities, and ministries to be apart of. It's hard to say "NO". We get swept up in this fast paced world all too often. This summer I began to dread our fall schedule and it hasn't even started yet...sports, home school co-op, church activities, Life Group and the list goes on and on.

I think with the arrival of our fourth child this fall I am struck yet again with how fast time flies. I have said the cliche a million times, but it seems just like yesterday my baby was due to be born and here he is about to be 3. I could say the same thing about my 8 year old son and my 6 year old daughter. Blink of an eye, and baby Benjamin will be the one turning 3. Time flies and that's a fact. I just don't want to miss anything. You can't get these moments back.

So with that, Gabe and I have talking a lot lately about what we could do to slow down and cut back. We have really been thinking about where and how we are investing our time. Because we home school we feel it best for our kids to be active in some sort of sport. This is just not something they can get at home. Gabe and I have decided that it is beneficial to us as a couple to continue with our Life Group from church. This is especially true for me since I am home all the time and do not participate in Bible studies at the church with other ladies. So it came down to AWANA on Wednesday nights. We love for our children to be apart of AWANA, but have found that other than adding another night apart as a family, the kids are usually cramming what seems like a billion memory verses in over the year and not really getting to spend much time truly digesting what each means. We debated whether or not to keep going with AWANA. Isaac is now old enough to be in TNT which he was really looking forward to. And Julia enjoyed being in Sparks.Well, our church recently made some changes and though they are still calling it AWANA, they are not really following the AWANA format and are doing away with the split groups like Sparks and TNT. So, that made our decision much easier. We will sit this year out and regain a week night to be together as a family. Sigh of relief!

For awhile now we have made Sunday nights our family nights. We do something fun with the kids like play a board game, play Smash ball in the backyard, or watch a movie. It's something different every week. When we have a week night together we usually read the Bible after dinner. Right now we are reading through John and just recently finished Acts. I treasure these moments as I listen to our children wonder and ask questions about God's Word. These are the moments that are shaping their little hearts and moments hopefully they will always remember. So even though all the activities out there are great in their own right, nothing can take the place of time together as a family, praying together, studying God's Word together, and serving others together. It's okay to say no and choose to slow down. It's okay to cut back.