What we can handle

Personal Photo: I snapped this photo of our blooming cut garden after we got back from vacation. While the weeds and grass distracted me, I am learning to focus on the flowers, and trust that I am doing the very best that I can. I will get to the weeds; it might take me a little longer than I thought it would, but I will get there :)

I walked out to the garden, feeling the summer heat climb up my back and the crisp grass tickle my ankles. It wasn't long before I had reached my destination, and I walked the perimeter of the fenced in area to peek overtop to get a better look at the green beans we had planted. Under some of the leaves were some tiny beans beginning to form from the pollinated blooms. Amidst the bean plants there were sprouts of thistle and grass beginning to get a little too established and I made a mental note that I needed to find the time and energy to go out and weed the garden. I made the same mental note as I made my way to the cut garden, and while the flowers were lovely and blooming, the growing weeds caught my eye. The berry patch was no better, and I could hardly make it back up the steps and into the house before the disappointment washed over me like a fresh burn.

Everything felt so far out of reach for me; With Clay working so many hours and me feeling so exhausted with small tasks from being seven months pregnant, I was trying to work it out in my head how I could make some progress and feel better about the whole thing. The heat overwhelmed me quickly these days and I struggled with my normal mobility. I came inside, got a cold cup of water, and settled on the couch to work out a plan. I couldn't help but think about a year ago this time, when our lettuce was being harvested by the gallon storage bags, dozens of them at a time, and how our sugar snap peas took off and we were sharing with family and friends to make sure we did not waste any. Our cucumber harvest was over sixty in one short week, and our strawberries rooted and re-rooted, showing for a promising year this year. This year was such a different story; our self-seeded lettuce from last year has already gone to seed, making it bitter and less tasty, a rabbit found its way into our fenced garden while we were on vacation and topped off many of our bean plants, stunting their growth, our strawberries produced very few berries, and our peas hardly came up out of the ground. While I fought a bit of frustration at the challenges that threatened the bounty this year, I tried to focus on our healthy rows of potatoes, the fact that the beans are still coming, and our onions are low maintenance and almost ready to pull. While I might be disappointed with the current status of our harvest, I couldn't help but be grateful that God does not give us more than we can handle.

Sometimes, we try to complicate our lives, add things to do and responsibilities to our plate, believing we can handle it all. However, God might step in to remind us that we are not Him, that we are not superhuman, and that we need to simplify when we find ourselves in seasons of chaos. This chaos often sneaks up on us when we are trying to handle too much, and we can quickly find ourselves overwhelmed. The short answer is that life happens; we have commitments, frustrations, responsibilities, unexpected events, and more that add to life's levels of stress. It can create a level of disappointment in ourselves for believing we are capable. However, simplifying is in no way a failure. In fact, it can often be God's quiet way of telling us to take a step back and focus on Him, focus on taking care of His beloved child, and to prioritize the things that will give Him the most glory. Phillipians 4:6-7 reads "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." This verse expresses to us the importance of trusting in God with our worries, struggles, joys, fears, and more. We might express to God a desire for something, but this passage from the Bible ensures that even when God's answer is "no," we can trust in His greater plan for us. When we feel overwhelmed, stretched beyond our reach, we can come back to this promise for His peace, and know that the Lord will take care of us, give us the strength to do the things we need to do, and to help us realize the comfort that we find when we depend on Him.

I was scrolling through LinkedIn a few months ago and found a post that read "There is no award for most over-worked person of the year." I found it interesting to consider how this concept applies to so many of us, trying to take on the world, sacrificing our happiness, our moments of slowness, our hobbies, our time with God, our time with each other, all so we can cross things off of our list. We all do it, we all find ourselves committing to too much, convinced that we will be the ones to avoid burnout and lack of motivation. However, the post was right; We get no accolades for burning ourselves into the ground, for overcomplicating seasons of life to just get through it and then get to the next season to just get through. In these times, we often need God's interference. We need His gentle reminders to rest, to come to Him, to never put distance between us and Him for the sake of progress. Matthew 11:28-30 calls us to "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gently and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Rest. What a comforting thought when we are stretched too thin, worn out too quickly, overwhelmed by life. God gives us that rest. He gives it to us in a thousand different ways. For me, He gave me rest with a lighter harvest this year, allowing me to simplify. He gave me rest with a supportive husband who is eager to help in any way he can. He gave me rest with my family's support and understanding of my limitations this year. The list goes on and on.

Simplifying in times of chaos, resting in times of weariness, trusting in times of uncertainty. All of these things call for faith. They all demand faith in God's caring for us, and they allow us to recover and refocus when we need it most. God steps in for us when we don't realize we have bitten off more than we can chew, and He reminds us that our limitations do not make us failures, but rather they can help us simplify in order to realign ourselves with our faith. 2 Corinthian 9:8 tells us "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work." This verse reminds us that we are far from disappointments in God's eyes when we need to take a step back to rest and to take a few things off of our plate. God prepares us for success, and when He intervenes and calls us to simplify, it is because He is preparing us for another moment where we will need the strength He provides to us in that rest.

God is with us all the time, understanding our burdens and the curveballs that we encounter as we navigate life. Sometimes things take more time and energy than we anticipated, we struggle more than we thought we would, we break down and realize that we need help. God will provide to us the rest we need to heal, the simplification we need to reprioritize Him and our faith in Him, and He will ensure that we are capable and successful in moments that call for it. We can depend on Him to look out for us, to never give us more than what we can handle, and to be there to comfort us in moments we feel as though we are trying to juggle too much!