First an Update...

I've been a little MIA again from blogging, and I've missed it so much. Ever feel like your plate is so full it's about to break? Or maybe you accidentally got one of those cheap styrofoam ones that you fill up and it starts buckling in the middle (you know - not the fancy rectangle ones, but the round kind that don't have separate spots for all the things you put on, so as a result you just keep piling and piling around the sides and in the middle...) and all too quickly you realize the many good foods you put there have overloaded it, and maybe, just maybe, you should've chosen more wisely? Sometimes you just need an extra set of hands to help you hold it up before it breaks or someone who jumps in just in time and makes an "awesome catch" as it starts to fall, saving it. Maybe if you're lucky, though, in the process of falling, you accidentally lost that helping of your great aunt Sally's mashed potatoes or your cousin Susie's triple cream pumpkin pie with whipped cream on top, and well - even though those were both good things, maybe even favorites, it really took a load (and a few million calories) off when you lost them.

Ok, let's put aside all the food analogies. (Can you tell Thanksgiving is coming soon?...)

Let's look at things in a real life perspective but in a non-complaining, very thankful for where God has me and how He continuously blesses me kind of way. This is how I put it this week in a facebook status - Sometimes you just have to take things one at a time, remember you're not alone in balancing it all, remember to be thankful, and remember you can only give your best (which is not the same as someone else's best). I'm thankful for where God has put me right now. 
"For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him." -Philippians 2:13

At this time in my life I am balancing teaching music full-time to 500 K-5 students in my school, taking two graduate courses, one of which is kicking my tail (Grammar...uggh), being a part of church and serving there, trying to spend as much time with friends and family as possible, exercise (which has been pretty non-existent lately), having a boyfriend (yes - I said boyfriend! :) But I think I'll save that for another post), keeping my apartment clean and organized, keeping really tight finances in line, and keeping up with committees and extra things at school (including the coolest club ever that I started this year!). I know we all have lists. I'm sure mine could go on if I really tried hard...my point is - all these things are "good." But I can't handle them all. God has put me in a wonderful place and given me the opportunity to be a part of these things, and 1- I have added more than He has given me, 2 - I haven't trusted Him fully with the load He has allowed me to have, and I'm running out of strength to do it on my own. 

But I don't have to. He is here...all the time. I am the child of a God who has taken me into His arms and desperately wants me to call on His name and trust Him to show me what I should keep on my plate and what should go. He will help me to give my best at all I am doing, (which I very often have to remind myself doesn't always look like someone else's best!), and He is here to give me rest. 

I hope you'll look at where God has you right now and remember He is with you. Sometimes I think God has brought me somewhere, and while He has allowed me to be there, I've kicked, pushed, pulled, and struggled to get there, thinking "I" was right, but when I let go and truly seek His will and direction, He shows me the path He has set out before me, and the struggle stops as I remember to rest in His arms and give up my "self." He loves you. He has a plan, and you are His child. Rest in Him.