Making Room For Margin Everyday

While reading one of my favorite blogs a few years ago, she addressed the importance of margin in our lives. Here is a short excerpt from that post. 

"Our family needs a lot of margin. Like margin on a page of a book~ we need blank space in our lives.

Have you ever purchased a book with little to no margin? I have. It was an old reprint that was taken from the original with no editing to its format. I never realized before how important margin could be.
It was impossible for me to enjoy reading the book~ even though I am sure the content was wonderful. It was just too stressful.

So it is in life.  It means that I have to say "no" to certain things. 

Because our family doesn't run well without margin, when things get busy I work at planning margin into our schedule.

HOW I KNOW WHEN I NEED MORE MARGIN:

#1 When I am feeling overwhelmed

#2 When I am neglecting some training area with my children

#3 When I am not connecting with my children

#4 When I don't have the time to do the things I know I need to do~ read the Word, exercise, laundry etc.

#5 When I don't see my children acting in love towards one another

That is when I STOP. I hit the brakes and re-prioritize. Are you there right now? I am. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed and wanting time to look into the sweet faces of my children.

There are so many good things in life, but not all things are helpful for us in this season. There are only so many things that God and our husbands actually call us to.

I think of 1 Corinthians 6:12: "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything."

We have the liberty to do many things. And we will be given the opportunity to do many good things. But not all of those good things will be profitable for our family at the time in which they are offered.

We only have one chance to lead these little hearts home."

To read her full post click here.

I read this article and it really hit home with me.  At the time my husband worked a full time job, was a part time assistant pastor at our church, very involved in local politics; including being on City Council.  We have 7 children, we homeschool, they are music lessons and sign language lessons, volunteering at the library...OK I'm tired just typing. I have no doubt that your list would be just as busy.

I love the word: margin 

It gives us pause, time to reflect, time to do nothing.

But, where is the margin? The free time?

Like Rebecca says above, we have to make it.  Aside from work responsibilities, we control our calendars.

It is hard for me to see things in small chunks.  My brain gets things wrapped up in a huge ball that I can't seem to unravel.  If we can learn to say No to some of our everyday activities, we can gain back some much needed "margin."

Instead of throwing in the towel, prioritize.  Do I really need to go to the store today?  Can the mall wait? Is another play date essential?  Do you really need to play another sport?  Another youth group activity this weekend?

Life is made up of decisions.  One at a time.  Figure out what is best for your family, and sometimes, probably more than not,  the things we feel we have to do...we really don't.

As we get ready to move to Cleveland I am looking forward to be able to make our own margins... recreate them the way that is best for our family.  

Join me on the journey to freedom.... find the much needed margin in your life.