Who is tired of talking about how difficult 2020 was?
Who thinks 2021 isn’t so great either?
I heard Christine Caine say that instead of talking about the horror of the pandemic/politics/social injustice of 2020, she and her family choose to see how God carried them through 2020. I like that and I’m ready to adopt that attitude.
A couple of months ago, on my podcast, I shared my story of burnout at the end of 2020. My story isn’t that unique. I think we all experienced some sort of burnout and exhaustion because that’s just what happens when life changes.
I was mentally and emotionally drained. I started realizing how little I had left for the people in my real life – starting with the people in my household first. The more depleted I felt, the more I saw how little I was giving to my people. I was feeling disconnected and flighty. I felt overwhelmed by my to-do list and I realized even people were just items on my to-do list. Can you relate?
I asked God to help me prioritize and do you know what He had the audacity to show me? He revealed that my podcast was taking up a lot of time and creativity and I needed to take a break!
Excuse me, Lord? You gave me this and now you want to take it back? I’m doing it for You and You want me to stop?
It was very confusing.
But isn’t that where we often get stuck? Sometimes the things that keep us busy and distracted are good things – godly things, but being busy and distracted is not of God.
I didn’t know if this was a pause or a full stop, which made it even scarier.
When I stopped was when I realized the pride I had invested in this podcast – the number of listeners, the number of new and retained followers on social media – the number of likes and shares and comments – the number of people who told me they loved that I was doing a podcast. It all mattered entirely too much to me.
This pause has revealed a lot to me – the joy of caring for my family – the peace in resting in the Lord – the treasure of deep friendships – the value of community in the flesh (although that ones a little harder during pandemic times).
So, I’ve thought of 4 pitfalls in following a calling that have affected me. This isn’t an exhaustive list – the devil is craftier than that, but these are the 4 I’ve learned.
So, how do I deal with these pitfalls? Again, this is my personal list. These are things that work for me and how I understand my own personality and motivations. I would love to hear from you about how you handle these things though!
Click to read what each of these pitfalls looks for me and how I deal with them:
Here’s what my heart looks like right now.
I’m so grateful to God for his providence over the last few months – showing me what I needed to pay attention to, taking care of the things I wasn’t taking care of, and providing friends and even strangers to speak into my life. It’s still a work in progress. I’m still figuring all the pieces out, but I’m back to this work now and I’m so glad you’re here with me.
I want to know where you find pitfalls:
