King's daughter, is there stress in your ministry? This is the question that came to my mind one Friday afternoon when I dropped into a comfortable chair. My muscles felt so tense; it had been a stressful day and my body was tired. I tried to think thoughts that would calm me. Instead I thought of the pending work in the office. Only a short time had passed since my husband and I had moved to this new district. My husband had a heavy load in the big, rural district. The church headquarters is near us and it requires a lot of attention and collaboration. My husband and I have always liked to work together as a team and I take care of many of the details. Women's Ministries has continuous activities at the church and I am their coordinator. I teach in the cradle roll division and am my husband's personal secretary. At home our two little children, our treasures, need to be looked after. We continuously have visitors who need some help, companionship, resources, etc., and I have to be there to help them when my husband is absent. There are times when I am frazzled by the many tasks 1 have to accomplish. Time marches on and I continually feel stressed as I look toward the clock and see what time it is.
What can I do? I knew at the rate I was going, I would soon collapse. Then I remembered a verse in God's word. It says, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28).
Could this be both physical and spiritual rest? Does resting in Jesus mean that I am inactive? No! His word is teaching me that this wonderful rest is to let Him carry me in His arms each day and when I work, realize He is there with me. He will carry that which we cannot. Often when we work our ministry, we think in terms of things to do, burdens to overcome, tasks to complete. We often forget who we work for and who we depend on. We are daughters of the King, and we are within His care.
That Friday afternoon, near the hours of Sabbath, I prayed. "Lord Jesus, thank you for permitting me to work for You, thank you for loving me, and for letting me be what I am. If someone comes to our home at an inconvenient time, let me be ready to help them because You are there. Our church members need attention that shows Your love. Everything that needs to be done will have its time. So thank you, Lord, for keeping me in Your love. Amen."
After praying I felt that God was with me. I began to organize and I adopted some ideas that helped put order into my life. I want to share them with you.
* Make plans the night before. Tidy up the house and office. This allows you to have more time to spend for God.
* Take the opportune time, the first hours of the day, to have personal devotions.
* Do some sort of physical exercise, then relax, and stretch your muscles.
* Have family worship. Let the children participate and tell what they learned. Sing hymns or songs that give praise to God.
* Plan activities ahead of time. * Use the time spent with children to teach them moral and educational things. Share stories, sing the alphabet song, make being with your children fun.
* Use a varied menu so mealtimes are something to look forward to.
* Schedule your time for church activities. Plan ahead when you will work on 'Women's Ministries, Dorcas, etc.
* Plan a family activity and schedule time to do it.
* Each night, evaluate what you did that day and plan for the next day.
This is my general agenda. I have found it isn't wise to promise to do something you cannot do. When we over commit, our homes and family suffer.
Each of us need to remember that our daily life depends on God. We cannot do everything in one day. Life is like an hour glass, and each tiny piece of sand is a problem. Only one grain should fall at a time or the clock gets stuck. We can only live in the present. We cannot govern the past or the future. The past is gone and the future doesn't exist yet!
Dear pastors' wives, the equilibrium of our spiritual, physical, emotional, and family activities will keep us active in God's work. We don't have to be stressed out, because when we are we have stopped letting Jesus carry our load. Go forward, and God will bless your ministry.
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A Weekly Schedule for the King's Daughter
Sunday: Day to Mend
"Help me, oh God, to mend my mistakes and not serve as a bad example to others."
Monday: Day to Wash
"Help me, God, to wash away my egotism and vanity so that I can serve you with humility this week."
Tuesday: Day to Iron
"Loving Lord, help me to iron out my wrinkles of prejudice that have accumulated over the years so that I can see the beauty of others."
Wednesday: Day to Cook
"Help me, Savior, to prepare an enormous pot of fraternal love and serve it with the bread of human kindness."
Thursday: Day to Clean
"Lord, help me to clean out the dust that's collected through the years and is in hidden corners of my heart."
Friday: Day to Buy
"Oh, God, give me grace to be a wise and careful buyer so that I can buy eternal happiness for my family and for all that need Your love."
Saturday: Day of the Lord
"Oh God, I already have prepared my house for You. Please enter my heart as an honored guest so that I can spend the day in Your presence."
