This past weekend I booked an airplane ticket to a larger town in our area. When you live in a town completely supplied by air, and without the normal fun amenities of a large city, it can cause some feelings of claustrophobia or boredom! I usually do fairly well here. My husband tends to get antsier, but this time, I was feeling the pressure. I want to share with you some of my Aha! moments and takeaways from my little “Time-Out”, but first, stick with me while I give a little background!
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How My “Time-Out” Began
I am one of the speakers at the 2019 Mom’s Conference coming up and the due date for my materials and videos was fast approaching. The first video took 20 long hours to upload because of my poor connection. It also took the internet away from all of my teammates, which doesn’t help with team unity. I was feeling pulled in a dozen directions, behind in everything, and overwhelmed with all of it. My husband suggested I take the one hour flight to Sentani, where they have much better internet, in order to upload my next video and spend some time catching up.
Friday morning, I got the kids started on their school work and headed for the airport. I couldn’t believe I was actually going, BY MYSELF! My notebook was full of plans.
- Upload my conference video and all the materials.
- Get caught up on the blogging tasks that I had gotten a behind in.
- Read 2 different books that had been on my list.
- Spend some time seeking the Lord and discerning His voice without distraction!
- Take an online master class that would have been difficult with the internet in Wamena.
OK, that list looks a little long, but I had 2 ½ days to myself and 2 plane trips! I had high hopes.
What Was Accomplished
Believe it or not, I was able to accomplish EVERY ITEM on my list! Of course, my flight was canceled on Sunday afternoon, so it gave me an extra night to finish. I was ready to go home, but I treated it as an opportunity. God must have known I needed the extra time.
My Takeaways
What I really want to share with you are my takeaways for the weekend. I felt the Lord speaking to my heart in a very special way. It had been quite a while since it was quiet enough for me to really hear Him!
- The Bible Study and one of the Books that I read really merged into a beautiful lesson that was very relevant to my life.
- Be a better example to my kids on what it meant to wear the Breastplate of Righteousness.
- I need to be fully engaged in our school time, and the time with my Toddler, not trying to multi-task. This is called Teaching from Rest a book written by Sarah Mackenzie. It really challenged me to not only be fully engaged in each moment of my day but to do it with peace and rest, not frustration and impatience.
- Focus on the MOST IMPORTANT THING! In this season of my life, that is my children and their education.
- The next main takeaway had to do with my work.
- This blog and the community surrounding it is very important to me. Unfortunately, I have been placing it in the wrong spot of importance in my life.
- It was affirmed in my heart that this blog is God’s work in my life and in others that it impacts. BUT it should never take precedence over my family.
- Only with His guidance and leading, I will be able to do both of them the way that God intends. If I try to do everything in my own time and effort, it will never succeed!
My Final Aha! Moment
“Time-Out” moments are necessary every now and then. I have heard this before, usually in the terms Me-Time or Mommy-Time. I never liked those terms. The thought of shutting myself away and turning my kids away at the door left a bad taste in my mouth. First of all, it never works. The kids know where you are and won’t go away. Second, I feel like the terms are so selfish. I get a guilty feeling when hiding myself away and eating a bag of jelly-beans in the bathroom. It creates feelings of frustration, because I’m still not accomplishing anything! This is what I came to understand:
- If I need to take a “Time-Out” because I am not being a good example to my kids, am behind in everything under the sun, burned out, and feel too overwhelmed, it is OK to do so. I think God himself gave me this last “Time-Out”!
- It is important to find a place out of the house, away from the norm in order to truly align your spirit and thoughts with the Lord’s. It also helps if you have several tasks that need to be knocked out to have uninterrupted time.
- Don’t waste the time you have. I ended up choosing several different activities that I felt were the most important during my time away. This kept my mind from wandering or getting bored. When I got tired of one task, I stopped and chose a different task to continue. I did not allow any TV, movies, or even YouTube to distract me!
God was right to give me this “Time-Out”. He renewed my spirit, challenged me, and allowed a new excitement for the tasks He has given me to accomplish. My next “Time-Out”, when I feel prompted by the Spirit to take one, will not be quite so extreme as flying to another city for a few days. I may just ask a friend without kids at home if I can borrow her back room for the day. Sometimes we need to be creative!
