A Healthy Margin - Leaving Room for God

Good morning!

Anyone else squeeze in every personal task ever during nap time? It's in this time I have to choose wisely: start a craft, workout, eat a leisurely lunch and catch up on Gilmore Girls (this one wins out a lot), catch up on emails and miscellaneous work.

I know that I let things go on a daily basis - deep cleaning, mundane every day tasks like folding laundry or putting dishes away. However, I know there are things I can't let go - making sure my children eat for instance, that one is kind of important. At TC3 this month we've been discussing leaving a healthy margin in our lives.

What exactly does that mean? In a nutshell, we need to leave space in our schedules, in our mind, in our money for God to work through us. I know I tend to over-schedule and overcommit myself to things which leaves little to no room for myself, let alone for God.

Part of finding my margin is reviving my every day devotions and prayers. I briefly mentioned #thefives which I randomly found while perusing online. This movement asks you - anyone who is interested- to wake up at 5am and spend an hour with God. That's it! No specific devotions or prayers, just spend time with Him. You check-in with an accountability group each morning (which has been a huge help for me) and then bleary-eyed, wake up with God. I've personally found this produces radically different days than if I just roll out of bed.

Are you leaving a healthy margin in your life your God?

For me, time and again, I come back to the parable of Martha and Mary found in Luke 10.
Verses 38 - 42 read:
³⁸ As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. ³⁹ She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

⁴¹ “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,⁴² but few things are needed—or indeed only one.^[a] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Does that resonate with anyone else? During the holiday season were so wrapped up in the preparations that you missed the joy that was waiting for you?

As we finish up a school year and get through this busy season of snowbirds and sports and school functions, try to be a Mary with me. Let's listen to what Jesus has to say - forget the extras - and find that margin in our lives.