Priorities and Commitments

Some comments on my previous post (thankyou ladies!) has made me think that maybe I should sit down and asses my priorities and commitments. I'm obviously spreading myself too thin and perhaps now is a good time to think about how I actually spend my time....


My job - it's full time, around 40 hours per week. Also uses a lot of my mental and physical energy and there's often not much left in the tank by the time I arrive home. I would dearly love to cut back on this, but that's not financially viable at the moment. Praying for some direction here, as I'd love a change, but if God wants me here, then I guess that's where I will be staying.

My family - they are also full time! The kids need to be driven to their sporting commitments, nagged to do their homework and clean their rooms, supervised on the computer (Scott mostly), and have their arguments refereed. I think poor Kym gets the least attention, because he can look after himself and I forget he needs me too. Of course there are the chores that everyone with a family has to do, washing (no Joanie, not ironing!), tidying, cooking etc.

My church - I worship lead around three months of the year. This involves planning songs, practising new ones, preparing the power point presentation, liasing with ministers/speakers and of course the important bit, actually worship leading on a Sunday. I'm also on our ministry team which meets monthly to oversee the general well being and pastoral care of the church, and I'm the secretary of the congregation which is a quarterly meeting. One term per year I teach Sunday school which to be honest I don't really enjoy so much anymore.

Our school - I am on the governing council committee for our school, which meets monthly. I am also on the school uniform committee which meets when required, the IT committee and since I'm the treasurer of governing council I have to be on the finance committee.

My sport - I play, coach and umpire netball most Saturday's from April to September which takes a great deal of physical and mental energy each week. I love the game, but not the politics that come with it, or the way my body feels after playing. I know this is something I should be able to let go but haven't been able to bring myself to do it yet. During summer I play tennis, and I'm the secretary of our tennis club. I'm also the captains wife so I generally write up the teams (because you can read my handwriting) and this has the added perk of having a say in who my doubles partner is! In Autumn and Spring I play squash with Scott (well, not actually with him, he's better than me so plays higher, but we go together). This happens on a Monday night after work.

Mary Kay with Steph - It feels like I have two jobs when this gets busy, but it has the benefit of being flexible, and we are able to do parties when we have time, or when we can make the time. Most Mary Kay parties are held on Friday nights or Sunday afternoons. I'm looking forward to summer as I will have more Saturday's free then.

Out of all that I'm thinking netball is the obvious thing to drop. Although I would still have to go on a Saturday to watch Steph and Scott play, and being there I would still help out with scoring, timing, umpiring etc.

Everything would be so much easier if I didn't have to work....but I do so I may as well stop sulking about it and toughen up.

I guess what I need to do now is pray about it. Try to work out what stays and what goes.

Lord, please help me to see what is important in my life and what isn't. Help me to prioritise my committments so that Iam able to best serve you and care for my family.