In Over My Head...

"I don't know how you do it all..."

I don't know how many times I've heard this in the last few weeks.  The giganto giveaway party, launching a new ministry, taking care of 2 energetic kiddos, maintaining a home and, here's the kicker... all while in my first trimester of pregnancy!  Impressive, huh?  (And yes, that's my subtle announcement!  Eek!  We're SO excited!  More on that later!)

Well, here's the reality.

I'm not doing it all.

Not even close.  My house is less than spotless and most days resembles a war-zone.  My incredible husband has done EVERY load of laundry and EVERY bit of cleaning for the past month.  My boys have watched hours and HOURS of tv.  (Some of this was due to some pregnancy complications that I'll get into next week, but I'm not going to lie... it happened much more than it "needed" to.)  Everything:  family, blog, home... has taken a backseat to SLEEP!

Why do I even bring this up?

1)  Because those of you who read this blog or know me in real life who've been shaking your heads and wondering how it's all happening... know that it's not.  ;)  Some things are happening, but not ALL things are happening.  Helps to know others are human sometimes, doesn't it?  I definitely fall into that category.  In fact, this post was inspired by Monday's post from Women Living Well.  I pretty much connected with every. single. word.

2)  I might be a little less of a "presence" around here for a bit.  I have been putting some pressure on myself to maintain the pace, but as a friend of mine wisely reminded me, this blog is not my job.  I love it.  I'm passionate about it.  I take it very seriously.  But sometimes priorities have to shift for a season.  I plan to continue to post regularly, but it may be more like 2-3 times a week as opposed to 4-5.  I don't want to post a lot just to maintain.  I want the content on When You Rise to be good and with this ol' pregnancy brain of mine, my thoughts might be less profound and coherent for a while.  :)  My main priority right now is my family and growing this precious baby!

Sometimes I think the beginning of the school year is my nemesis.  Every opportunity is new and exciting and I feel like I can take them all on... until it all starts.  ;)  I actually said "no" to something last week and have felt guilty about it ever since.  This is the nature of my personality.  I do life full steam ahead and actually enjoy taking on everything in sight, but everyone has a limit and I've hit mine.

I forsee the majority of my stresses subsiding over the next couple of weeks.  Routine will set in with a few things.  Other things will be wrapping up.  My first trimester will be coming to an end.  But I'm not there yet, the "in the meantime" is about to happen and I HATE being in survival mode.  Too often my mindset is "get through this and get back on track."  But here's the deal:  God CAN and SHOULD be glorified during the insanity over the next two weeks.  I don't want to use the stress as a pass to just "survive."  As Courtney pointed out in her post, His power can be made perfect in my weakness.  (2 Cor. 12:9)

So, I'm not going to run from the stress.  I'm going to try really, really hard not to whine about it.  I'm actually going to try to embrace it?!?!  Because HE can look more beautiful in the process. (Believe me, anything lovely coming from me in the next little bit will definitely be a direct reflection of him.)

So I hope over the next few weeks that people don't look at me and go, "Holy cow, that girl needs to learn to say 'no' and get her priorities straight."

I also hope that people don't look at me and think, "Man!  She's so organized and has it all together!  She's super woman!"

I pray, with all earnestness that people look at me and say, "Wow! Is the grace of the Lord evident in her life or what?  She's in over her head and Christ is working in spite of her."

His grace is sufficient.  To him be the glory.