Guilted into a yes

How many times have we said yes to something because we've felt too guilty to say no? As moms we constantly have a stretched schedule. A normal school day in our house looks a lot like this.

6 am: wake up kids, fight them to get dressed, make their beds, brush their teeth, get their hair done, and get downstairs to eat.

6:30- make the kids breakfast while I then put together three lunches, make sure folders are in backpacks, that they have all their homework, library books, snacks, and water bottles.

6:50- it's time to fight them to get their shoes and jackets on and grab their backpacks before walking out the door at 6:54 for the bus.

7:00- the kids are finally off on the bus and now I can sit for a moment with a cup of coffee and my bible study.

8:00-2:30- this is that magical time of day when the fairies come and do my cleaning, dishes, laundry, grocery shopping, and meal prep. Oh wait, that's right, fairies aren't real.

2:45-3:30- the time where I fight homework. If only it were appropriate to have a glass of wine at that hour!

Now after this time it depends on the day of the week. We either have dance for Savannah, dance for Kahla, Acro for Kahla, or soccer for Cole.

Somewhere around 6:00- this is hopefully the time we all sit down for a meal together. Honestly though, total confession here, this only happens when the husband is home. Otherwise I put the food on the table for the kids and have cheese and a glass of wine by myself after I've put them to bed.

8:00- is the magical hour they all just fall asleep. Yes, that's wishful thinking. Most of the time the next 30 min. to an hour consists of someone coming out of bed for one reason or another and me yelling at them to get back in bed.

I would be curious to know how many others out there have a schedule that looks like mine. So where do you fit in time for all the other things that come up? Tammy invited you to lunch, the PTA needs help fundraising, a teacher has asked for you to help in the classroom, you're approached about decorating the gym for an upcoming event, your spouse needs to you attend an event with him, etc. The list could go on forever and as women we feel obligated to say yes to these things and find some way of attempting to squeeze them into our already jam packed day. If somehow we managed to actually say no to one of these we feel we need to give a reason as to why we are saying no. Even if we are completely making up the reason! The kids are sick, we have an appointment, we have already committed to something. Why do we do this? Why do we feel guilty if we say no to something? Why do we feel we need to give a reason? The simple answer, we're WOMEN! We are born people pleasers and nurturers. But what happens when we say yes to everything and everyone else? We never say yes to ourselves.

I have recently joined a bible study at my church called 'The Best Yes', by Lysa Terkeurst. In this study she dives into "making wise decisions in the midst of endless demands".

If we are always saying yes to everyone else we aren't just saying no to ourselves, we're also saying no to God. I know I have struggled lately with dedicating time to spend in devotion and prayer. I felt like I always had something else that was pressing on my mind. If I actually took time to sit and do a devotion I would think of the many other things I needed to be doing. How wrong I was for thinking this way! Without a relationship with God I am no good to my family or friends so my yeses to them would be empty. I want to be full of God and be able to say yes with a servants heart. I also want to be able to say no when I know I need to without feeling guilty.

We are women, we are mothers, we are powerful, we are amazing at all we do. We are also human and can't do it all. Especially if we are not facing this world with our Father by our side.

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom"

-Psalm 111:10