Friday, September 26, 2008

Finding Balance by Guest Blogger, Heather Thompson


Balance. Why is that so hard to achieve? As a stay-at-home and work-at-home mom of 2, I struggle with that daily. I'm a child of God, a wife, mother, daughter, friend, sister, business owner, Sunday school teacher…you get the idea. And chances are you wear just as many hats if not more. So what is the one thing that unfortunately so many times falls by the wayside? Our marriages.

When you spend all day serving others and wearing all those different hats, at the end of the day all you want to do is relax and have a little time for yourself. But for me, that seems to be the only time of the day I get to spend uninterrupted quality time with my husband. After the kids are in bed, chores done, lunches made for the next day, this “leftover” part of my day and myself is what my husband gets. But at this point in my life, this is the best part of the day for us to be together and commit some time to the single most important earthly relationship we’ll ever have – our marriage.

I am by no means an expert on marriage. I have been married 11 ½ years and am very proud of how far we have come. I was brought up to honor my vows and I intend to do just that, no matter what it takes. My mom has always told me, “In your marriage you will have many ups & downs and fall in and out of love many times.” She & my dad had been married for 50 years when he passed away almost 3 years ago. And you know what…she was right! How do people commit to marriage and think it’s going to be a bed of roses for the next 50 plus years? We are human, we change, life changes. But as a Christian who said my vows before God I intend to stick with the “for better or worse” part.

So how do I find balance when it comes to life, my marriage, and my children? I try to focus daily on my priorities…God 1st & Family 2nd. I have found if I try to base every decision whether big or small, each day, on those 2 things, then everything else falls into place. Trying to balance life and balance it well can be a challenge. If I can just remember each day to put God 1st and family 2nd, then life will find its balance.

Written by Heather Thompson

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Very good post! I like that when you say you'll fall in and out of love many times. That's true of marriage and of friendship. But if they are true friends (as your mate should be), You'll fall in love one more time than out of it. By placing God first, you have your priorities in order.

Anonymous said...

Absolutely, Ron. You know I thought it was beautiful that her mother and father were married 50 years. My husband's grandparents been married for 70 plus years. He's 95 and still driving. They are still in their right minds. Her answer is always prayer and learning to be quiet. His answer is prayer and hard work. I believe that they keep each other going. When I say lucid, they are lucid. God bless marriages like that and prayerfully Heather and I and all the married or to be married readers will have long healthy marriages.

Maryannwrites said...

Very nice post, Heather, and good advice for us all. Reading this reminded me of an interview I did once with a man who had been married over 50 years and I asked him what was the secret of staying together through it all. He said, "Well, when you get married it's like getting into a boat to cross a large lake. If you are both rowing together, you make it to the other side. If one of you is not rowing, you don't get anywhere."

In addition to what his wife said about keeping God paramount in your life, I thought his advice was good, too.