“The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.” Psalm 145:9 (NIV)
I was talking to my friend, Kathie, the other day. We’re both employed in the same profession and so we understand the different stressors that come with our job. As an independent contractor in the field of medical transcription, I am (sorta) in charge of how much I work. I can take on more, or less, doctors in a particular season of life depending upon if the work is available. My boss acquired another practice and I was faced with the question of whether or not I wanted to take on more doctors and earn more money, or keep earning what I’m currently making instead. That was the tough question my friend and I were discussing. I jokingly told my friend, “I could take on one or two extra doctors, but then the time I have scheduled for emergencies would be gone.”
We both have a desire to help provide financially to our households; however, at the same time we don’t want to forget (or neglect) the most important job God put us here on earth to perform – being the best wife and mother we can each be. In order to be at our best, we can’t be stressed out, worn out, or burned out the time. Not to mention the fact that if we schedule our lives using every available minute, when the emergencies come up (and they inevitably will), we won’t have the time to deal with them. God had been speaking to me for over a year that He was in charge and He would provide…I could rest and trust that He had our family taken care of. He didn’t want me to stop working, but I didn’t have to work as though all the responsibility fell on my shoulders (something I put on myself, not anything my husband or children put on me)
That conversation with my friend filled me with peace that I’d made the right decision, for our family, in this particular season. The very next day was a great reminder that emergencies are called “emergencies” for a reason. I was dealing with running a garage sale while tending to a dog sick who had eaten spoiled food. In addition, the day after that, while still managing the above two issues, I also came down with a fever and was out of commission the whole next day. The fact that our dog has never been that sick and I rarely am sick with a fever further reinforced to me if I had chosen to take on the extra work, while I would have managed somehow, that would not have been best for our family in this season.
My Father gets my first. My husband should get the best I have to offer after my Creator, and my kids deserve way more than my leftovers. When I’m spending all my energy and depleting my resources working toward financial gain instead of finding the right balance between working enough to pay the bills and still having plenty to give to my family emotionally, then something is wrong. I needed the reminder from my great friend, Kathie: “When we’re on our deathbed, we won’t regret not working MORE, that’s for sure!!”
However, in an effort to save time and energy, I’m still all about planning ahead. I’ll be the first in line saying, “I’m here to schedule my emergency, please,” if that’s ever a possibility.
© Cheri Swalwell 2014