A High Calling

Lately I've been feeling really overwhelmed and discouraged about all of the things that I am neglecting to do, yet so desperately want to be able to do.

I want to see my Mom and Dad more. I miss them. I want to spend more time with some of my unbelieving relatives, so that I can have opportunity to share the gospel.

I want to be able to serve more in the church, and minister to individuals and families.

I want to invest more in some of my friendships.

I want to be creative, and scrapbook and work on my cookbook, and bake more. I want to do these things so my girls have special memories and family traditions that they can pass on.

I want to read more, write more, exercise more and relax more.

Now, these things are good and so many of them are profitable for me and others in so many ways. However, I have been needing to remind myself, that right now, these are not the best things for me. They are not my primary calling.

As I've been thinking through all of my goals for next year, all that I want to accomplish, I've been trying to remind myself of God's calling on my life right now. I'm going on a mini retreat next month (as per advice from Shopping For Time) to pray, plan and organize for the upcoming year, and I want to have a godly outlook and perspective when I am doing so.

I humbly recalled Tedd Tripp's book, Shepherding a Child's Heart, and these words struck me anew:

You must regard parenting as one of your most important tasks while you have children at home. This is your calling. You must raise your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. You cannot do so without investing yourself in a life of sensitive communication in which you help them understand life and God's world. There is nothing more important. You have only a brief season of life to invest yourself in this task. You have only one opportunity to do it. You cannot go back and do it over.
You live in culture in which there are opportunities for you to do things unheard of in history. You are presented daily with scores of options for investing your life's energies and creativity. There is more than you could ever do. You must, therefore, prioritize.
Parenting is your primary calling. Parenting will mean that you can't do all the things that you could otherwise do. It will affect your golf handicap. It may mean your home does not look like a picture from Better Homes and Gardens. It will impact your career and ascent on the corporate ladder. It will alter the kinds of friendships that you will be available to pursue. It will influence the kind of ministry that you are able to pursue. It will modify the amount of time you will have for bowling, hunting, television, or how many books you read. It will mean that you can't develop every interest that comes along. The costs are high.

Parenting is a high and weighty calling. I need to remember this when I feel as though I'm not "doing" enough, or accomplishing as much as I desire. At this point in my life, I am called to raise my children up in the discipline and knowledge of the Lord (Eph 6:4).

Teaching our children to live for God's glory is a task of eternal significance and we must never diminish the importance of it. God is honoured in our parenting and in our faithfulness to our families. All of our other desires are good and important also, but they must never contend with or distract from our calling right now. So don't feel discouraged if you can't "do it all".