Confessions Of An Unlikely HousewifeSample

I love my husband.

I love my kids.

But sometimes, they get on my nerves.

Can I get an “Amen,” somebody?

That’s why I was thrilled the first time my husband, seeing that I was two seconds away from pulling out each strand of my hair by the root, announced that he’d made plans to whisk the kids off for a day at the park so I could have some “me” time.

(To be clear, he didn’t get on my nerves that day. He was my favorite person in the whole world. You know how it goes. It’s always one or the other.)

At any rate, once everyone loaded up into the car and left for the day, I was ecstatic. Finally, I had time to do something for myself and have some fun! I vaguely remembered fun from my pre-wife/mom days and I was eager to indulge in it once again.

My plan went off seamlessly until I realized …

I had no idea what to do with myself.

What did I want to do?

What did I like to do?

Where did I want to go?

As crazy as it sounds, I didn’t have answers to these questions. I’d grown so accustomed to meeting everyone else’s needs, I’d lost touch with what I wanted and needed.

Clearly, I needed to learn to spend more time with me!

You might have already discovered how refreshing it is to carve out time to rest, recharge and do things that you enjoy. 

Here’s the deal. Learn to incorporate rest as a regular, non-negotiable rhythm of your life -- without guilt. 

For some reason, we think it’s selfish to take time for ourselves and noble to run ourselves ragged to the point of short fuses and exhaustion. But to love others well, you and I have got to fill ourselves up so we have something good to share with those who need us.

If God can rest without guilt, so can you!

Lo and behold, when my family returned from their outing, they didn’t get on my nerves so much after all. It turned out that my nerves were the problem, not the people getting on them. Imagine that.

The next time you’re feeling on-edge, press the reset button with a little fun, rest and recreation. Your family will thank you!