“Life is not static.”

A thought by Larry Osborne, (2009-04-10) from his book, Spirituality for the Rest of Us: A Down-to-Earth Guide to Knowing God (p. 154). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

But so many people want it to be.  They never want changes.  They want to balance their life.  But Larry says, “Life is not static.  It goes through seasons, some predictable and some catching us by surprise. Each has its own responsibilities and assignments.”  That is reality.

He says, “During harvest the farmer had better reap. Family, friends, rest, and spiritual reflection might all be important, but if the crops aren't brought in on time, they'll rot in the field. Harvest isn't a time for balanced living. It's a time for something that looks a lot like workaholism.”

My son is in Law School right now.  He is doing a good job at spending time with his family but his life is out of balance.  It has to be in order to get his law degree.  And he can’t feel guilty about it. 

Larry goes on, “Each season of life has its own responsibilities and assignments. The mother of two or three preschoolers has a vastly different God-given assignment while the kids are young than she'll have when her nest is empty. Trying to balance good care of the kids with consistent Bible reading, prayer, physical exercise, proper diet, time for friends, and sizzling intimacy with her husband is a recipe for fatigue and failure. It's not going to happen.  For this mom, balance is probably out of reach. Survival is the order of the day.”

Some of you really need to see this today. 

I am retired right now but my wife, Margaret is an AVP of the Quality Department of a Health Insurance Company.  I drop her off at work at 7:00 am and pick her up at 6:00 pm.  There is no way that she should feel guilty at the time she spends away from me.  I take her to work so we can spend time together but in no way am I going to give her grief because of the other hours she spends away from me.  We are in different seasons of our lives.   And we do have quality times at night and on our weekends.

Please understand, you can’t do everything.  And you don’t have to.  As Larry says, “The search for a well-balanced life tends to overlook the fact that we each have a unique calling and role to play. Playing our role well sometimes demands being out of balance somewhere else.”

So what season are you in?