Finding Balance

 

 

I’m not type A.

If you know me well you are not at all surprised. Most days I’m behind on things, treading to keep my head above water. I drop the ball, forget things, am absentminded, and am often off in my own world.

Add pregnancy to the mix and well, it’s been a little crazy around here. I am exhausted. The three week reprieve I had from exhaustion has passed and I’m back to sleeping 8-9 hours a night and running our of steam by lunch. I remember years ago pulling all nighters, working full-time while in school full-time, and still maintaining a social life. Even then I never felt like this.

And yet, I try not to make pregnancy an excuse. Our house still needs to get clean, we still need food on the table, and disorganization/messiness drives me crazy. Not accomplished as they may have been pre-pregnancy, but they need to be done. These past couple of weeks my computer has put me to the test. I could write and dream, catch up on life, research baby things, the whole bit and before I knew it I was rushing to get to work, get ready, read my Bible. I loathe rushing. We’ve arranged our life with margin, something Alex and I crave.

And yesterday as I sat in Bible Study, my study unfinished, not because I didn’t have time, the Lord softly convicted my heart. And I already knew change had to come. I know it will not get easier when the baby comes; I’ve watched two toddlers and a newborn from sun-up to the time reinforcements come through the door. I’m not naïve about what life will look like in a few short months. But I want to be prepared.

So I made a rule and asked my husband to help me. You see, my non-type A personality is not naturally prone to organization or schedule. I’m more apt to have piles everywhere, but I will know where everything is! So we help each other, because that husband of mine is beyond Type A. Opposites really do attract:) Task at hand: I asked him to help me ban the computer before 11 am. Today was the first day.

After waking and getting out of bed by 7:45, I finished cleaning all three bathrooms, loading/unloading the dishwasher, my quiet time with ample time for prayer, a load of laundry done, others folded and put away, cleaned the kitchen, and got ready and ate breakfast by the time it was 10. Amazing what one can accomplish without the distraction of a little black box of entertainment. Since I amazed even myself, I grabbed my computer a little early and it felt good.

I’m not sure where you are on the Type A – Non Type A scale, most I know are like my husband, but if you tend to be like me, I just want to share there’s hope for us. There’s hope, praise the Lord, there’s hope!

In the next few months before baby girl arrives, I’m hoping to re-connect with the schedule I had before I was pregnant, modified of course. Days of the week for certain activities, a cleaning rotation, more creative meal planning, and figuring out how to keep this big house clean. 

When I get my plan together, I’ll happily share. Because maybe all of us outliers or not, can encourage each other toward finding balance in our lives, in our homes, in our hearts. And most importantly, finding time to put God first. Because at the end of the day, that’s what matters.