Learning from a Chicken…
Anyone had a furious start to the fall? School is here and all that goes with the beginning of autumn. Seems like everyone lives a faster and faster paced life with each passing season, including the Conlee crew. This week we have had cross country, Open House, dentist appointments, the kickoff of fall Bible study, Student Council meetings, a doctor appointment, football and more football… and that is just a four day week.Many of us are truly over-extended, so how do we as Christian women help find the balance God desires? When I consider what personal changes I can make to not be over-extended, my options seem limited. I feel like it is the choice to embrace an Amish lifestyle or live in reality…with not many alternatives in between. We constantly tweak our calendar and reevaluate how we spend our time, but it feels like the boundaries we set are continually tested.When our kids were younger, it was possible to protect certain nights of the week, but realistically that becomes more challenging in this season of life. Our family nights are spent doing things with our family, but does dinner together at 8:30pm after practice really count as a night at home? Not in my book. I completely respect and admire my friends that home school, but it is not an option for our family either… for the safety of all of those involved.Often when I hear people cutting things out of their schedules, it is the wrong things. We skip church because it is our only day to sleep in, or we sleep through our Priority Time, or stop working out, or don’t get involved in community because we simply don’t have time.As I pondered this challenge, I drove by our local Chick fila. Sadly, it is currently closed. Why? Because it was so successful they decided to tear down the original facility and build a larger one. I recently heard the profit margin for Chick fila is five times greater than its competitors. Here is the beauty, Chick fil a is beating the competition hands down working one day less per week than the other chains. Is there a lesson to be learned for us? Absolutely.The last time I entered a Chick fila, I noticed a new addition…small Chick fila to-go cups filled with Cheerios neatly and strategically displayed with the bibs. Certainly, you have noticed the dual lines and outdoor cashiers. Chick fila has a “whatever it takes, give our customer the best” attitude. They work incredibly hard and pay attention to the details. Then, they trust God to provide. If they can observe the Sabbath as a multimillion-dollar operation, surely we can observe a Sabbath too! None of us can outsmart God’s design. I work hard 6 days… that is not my danger. My danger is to think I have so much to do the following week that someone how I will get myself ahead if I just push through. It is time to realize that our pushing through each week is the very thing that will push us OVER the edge. Join me in reclaiming a Sabbath.