The other day I had two people text me with an activity for my kids in the afternoon. Both were great opportunities that would be good for my kids. As I am trying to be a little more guided by the Spirit in my life right now, I decided that this would be a good thing to pray about to know what to do. I didn't feel anything strong either way, so I made my decision and went.
After getting home, I realized my kids and I were exhausted from too many summer activities packed into one week. I realized that I had only prayed about two options when really there were three. I now understood that my third option was to not go to either activity at all, but to go home and rest a little and prepare for company that was coming for dinner that evening.
I realized that I had been running faster than I had strength. When I was praying, the most likely reason I hadn't felt direction either way was because I hadn't considered that neither option was right.
Well, we did survive the crazy, busy day and all ended well. However, this experience proved to be a preparation for things to come.
We had family in from out of state and we were invited to go and spend one more evening with them. My kids loved their kids and would have been so excited to spend more time with them since we rarely see them. For me, family comes first, always. And I jump at opportunities to spend any time with family and usually bend over backwards to make it happen.
However, when I needed to text back whether or not we were going to come, last weeks experience came to my mind. I set aside a moment from my children (locked my self in the bathroom) to pray to know if going to see family, although important, was really what was best for my family at that moment. I felt as I prayed that the distance of the activity, how late it would be when we arrived home, and the stressful day my husband had been having at work all pointed to the conclusion that this would not be the best thing for my family tonight.
My children needed rest and a decent bedtime. My husband needed some quiet time away from work. And although extended family is important, tonight my immediate family needed to come first.
Lesson learned.
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