Summing it up...

These are Jasmine's words....
Well said!
We have been hiking among the local trails and state parks for the past several weeks. It was amazing to be in the parks, it felt like God is surrounding us, speaking to us in nature tune or engulf us with the nature smell . The whispering of leaves, chipping of the birds, the sound of waterfall, the smell of wild roses, the smell of skunks or foxes (As Ann mentioned, we could not tell the difference), who would imagine that we have all these trails and parks as Barb put it right in our own backyard.

I was asked to comment on the blog on the recent chapters that we have been reading for our G2 group. I selected the chapter on "Seeking Balance" because it spoke volume to me. The author has the idea that a good christian could and should live a perfectly balance life. He realized that he never did get the hang of it.  For some of us, we tend to spend more time with work, personal goals and achievements, or church or charitable activities, sport activities for the children, etc than with God and our family. I am one of those people who would pack a 24 hours day into a 36 hours day, from morning till sun down, seeking balance in my daily life is difficult. I am glad to note that the author offered some hope by pointing out that a number prophets Noah, Joseph, Moses, David, Jeremiah, Daniel, Paul, Peter, Stephen and most of the rest have wildly out of balance lives. Mr. Osborne further pointed out that "when we're juggling competing priorities, our ultimate goal is not to be perfectly balanced. The goal is to fulfill God's calling without falling over." The author also wrote that "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." I liked the fact that each of us has the unique and important role to play in God's kingdom even with our shortcomings, supporting each other in various ways.

The author learned to ask three questions when juggling life competing demands (the following are excepts from the book):

1. What season is this? Each season of life has its own responsibilities and assignments. Mr. Osborne gave an example of a mother with preschoolers. Her God-given assignment would be different when her children are young than empty nest years.
2. What does God want me to do today? Each day has its own calling, a series of specific tasks carried out in the framework of a larger calling. The author gave an example of concentrating on his studies on his finals and intentionally let everything else go, family, devotional life, accountability group.
3. Is anything so out of balance that it's beginning to harm my health, relationships, or walk with God? The author gave an example of a friend that changed careers in midlife so that he could have a rigid and well balanced schedule of work, bible study, and family time.

We are all so different. As Mr. Osborne wrote, we have to find our own standard of balance that faithfully fulfill God's calling for us. Let's begin this journey, to faithfully fulfilling God's calling for each one of us. For some of us, we already have, for others, it is not too late....