Ari Barrett It might sound nuts, especially in our current socioeconomic climate regarding women, but I really DON'T want to have it all. I know, I know... This is the call of so many modern women who are proving something, to someone, somewhere: "You can have it all!" But I simply just don't want to, and neither should you, here's why: To have it all means you have the responsibility of it all, and that is exhausting. When you have it all, you're still missing something pretty big: rest. Trying to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders will make anyone start to drag. Even the strongest wives, the sweetest mommas, and the smartest administrators lose their energy reserves when it's all spent in the vague direction of more. A great friend of mine quoted Francis Frangipane in one of my more busy seasons recently. Francis had explained in a study that we are not just responsible for our lives and situations, but that true responsibility is in responding to the ability of God. Only He is ultimately responsible, and ultimately able! There is a great deal of rest in the acceptance and surrender of that for us. "Are you so foolish? Although you began with the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by human effort?" Galatians 3:3 With eggs in every basket, you never really have a full dozen. At the end of the day your success is determined not by the amount of errands, tasks, meetings you've completed, but how well you've completed them. You can focus on your career, focus on your family, focus on your favorite nonprofit, and focus on a barrage of friends every time they reach out to you; sure, you could do all that. But I'm willing to bet at the end of all the "go time" you will have gone more than just a little crazy. Worse yet, there is no way you are doing "all of the things" effectively, or ending up with any time left for you and Jesus. Yes, you have some fantastic ingredients in your character: diligence, talent, compassion, intelligence... However, if you use each ingredient for a different recipe then your cookies are only ever going to be half baked. No one likes half baked cookies... "It is vain for you to rise up early, To retire late, To eat the bread of painful labours; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep." Psalm 127:2 If you could have it all now, you wouldn't be a part of the process. Moses, Job, Daniel, Mary Magdalene, Paul... what do they all have in common? Process. I'm not talking about the 15 minute process you took to decide what you'd have for breakfast this morning either. I'm talking about long years of waiting, trials of insurmountable odds, and fear shaking, faith building process. The Lord who created you is also calling you on a life long journey of pressing in and walking out your salvation. Is His desire to bless you as his children? Absolutely. Will that blessing look the way you think it should? Probably not. However it looks to your earthly eyes, you can trust that the Lord has the truest desires of your heart at hand, and He will not let you settle for the easy stuff, the low hanging fruit. As the potter of your life, he promises to use the fires all around you for your own good! At the end of this life, and at many points along the way, you will be highly rewarded through the process. "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:12-14  Ari is a wife to a nerdy stud named Joseph, a mama to 3 rowdy kids (sometimes confused with goats, understandably), and a lover of words and yarn. More importantly, she's a daughter of the Most High, and she believes that women are being called to create an atmosphere of worship in their homes and relationships. This post originally appeared at Ari's personal blog: thewovenwomb.com
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