Dear grace-girl,
If you're anything like me, you're slowly and cautiously with only one eye open, looking at your Spring calendar. The events once held in May have crept over into April, and now it just feels like six weeks of crazy. You might feel yourself saying things like, “I'm so ready” or “This is just too much.”
We struggle when we overlay our calendar with the emotions these the end-of-school-year events bring:
- sadness + joy for our first-born's high school graduation,
- the bittersweet experience of his final middle school band concert,
- the pride when she accepts that accolade at the kindergarten awards ceremony.
For all of us juggling the joy and craziness Spring brings, I offer the Grace Girl's Guide to Spring. For the next three weeks, we'll break down how grace girls can navigate the busyness, exhaustion, and the incessant inner critic that accompanies this beautifully amazing season. But let's start with definitions.
What is a grace girl?
A grace girl is someone who is in training in how to walk in grace by bringing her hurts and struggles into the light, allowing the Lord to tend to her heart, and forgiving others and herself.
If you're reading this email, you're a grace girl!
So how do we navigate the busyness of this season? What does it look like to go to work + meet deadlines, attend the end-of-year award ceremonies, make dinner + do laundry, plan for the summer, and be present at the recitals, concerts, graduations, baby showers, weddings, and so on and so on forever?
Let's take a look at some of the lies/underlying assumptions we hold around a busy schedule and what grace says.
- It's supposed to be easy. Our American culture wants us to believe most days operate as well-oiled machines, and if simply planned correctly, we'll experience ease with few logistical hiccups because we've thought ahead to plan for every contingency.
- GRACE SAYS: Jesus told us we would face trouble and that ease was not our goal. He is in us and with us as we navigate the days that don't go as planned.
- I'm doing something wrong if I feel any level of stress. You may view stress as a cue that you've missed the boat or don't know the secret sauce. Stress can be a cue that things are not right or you're trying to meet everyone's expectations or prove your worth.
- GRACE SAYS: Experiencing stress simply means you're human, and isn't an automatic indicator that you're doing anything “wrong." God loves humans and isn't surprised when humans encounter human emotions. While we never want to live in a chaotic, haphazard fashion, stress is inescapable this side of heaven.
- Stripping away to the essentials is the key to surviving a busy schedule. We've been taught that if we only weed out what's unnecessary, we will avoid being overwhelmed by a full schedule.
- GRACE SAYS: Girl, God placed you here in this season with these people. While it's good to take a look at your calendar and to-do list to see what can be delayed or declined, I'm guessing that you're doing exactly what you need to do this season. If you're doing what God's called you to do in love, you are exactly where you need to be.
Grace travels with us through Spring.
Remember, grace is God's gift to us in the person of Jesus,
who understands our humanity
and comes alongside us to work on our behalf.
Jesus understands your humanity; being human is a gift He offers you. Living a full life often looks like a full calendar, especially in the Spring. Friend, be excessively gentle with yourself.* This might look like
- ordering take-out for dinner five nights next week,
- or putting on an eye mask and taking a nap,
- or rewarding yourself with your favorite latte when you meet that work deadline,
- or sitting on the porch while reading as the laundry gives you the side eye,
- or organizing a girls night out.
What will you make you feel like a human this season? What can you do -- in spite of a busy and full schedule-- that will soften your edges, make you laugh, and help you remember that after Spring, Summer welcomes you with warmth and a slower pace?
Go in grace + peace + do good things,
jill
*Quote from a John O'Donohue poem
