“It’s Getting Kind of Heavy!”
The
heavy snow we got last week was so beautiful.
The snow was wet, so I saw lots of snowmen being built. The first good snow of the year had lots of
kids excited for the opportunity to play in it.
As I drove down the road, I was amazed at the way the snow made all the
trees look like each branch was completely white. It all looked majestic…
…until
I woke up the next morning! My 25 foot
tall pear tree was quite different from the heavy snow. The middle of the tree was all hallowed
out. The branch that broke extended to
the peak of the tree, but now it was laying on the ground.
The snow was beautiful,
but it was heavy. The stress caused by
the weight of the snow was more than that branch could bear. As I worked to clean up the tree later in the
day, I was reminded how life can get that way sometimes. It just gets “heavy.” As a parent, I don’t get to just focus on
parenting. I wish I could, but God has
given me things to do besides being a parent.
It gets hard when I manage so many other competing things. So, how does a person keep from “breaking”
when things get really “heavy?”
I
don’t have a perfect answer, but I know that for me, I need to remind myself to
remove things that don’t matter to God and my family in order to find some
relief. Just think! If that tree could have removed some snow
from its branches while the snow kept falling, it would still be completely
intact today. Especially at Christmas,
things get pretty “heavy” with all the things to do, but really, we might be
wise to remove some of those things that don’t matter so we don’t “break” under
all the stress! Start with a focus on
God and then your family, and see what you can get rid of in the weeks ahead.
“Martha, Martha,” the
Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing
is needed. Mary has chosen what is
better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Like 10: 41,42
Family
Discussion Points!
Have
every family member share their favorite Christmas tradition that they don’t
want to have stop. Protect all those
things as a family!
Consider
and talk about what God thinks would be most important about Christmas time for
us today if He were to tell us. Protect
these things too!
Consider
getting rid of some of the “heavy” things, OR reducing your time spent on them
if you are not able to eliminate them.
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