Finding Rest in Absolute Exhaustion

I have a confession. I had every intent of designating Wednesday nights as my blogging night and when last night rolled around, I couldn’t do it. I powered up my laptop and logged into my blog but when it came to writing, my mind was blank. Nothing. Pure emptiness. And that pretty much sums up the last couple weeks for me. A whirlwind of unexpected issues, life’s messes and just your basic, every day chaos that I have found myself, on what I like to call Friday Eve (it’s the only way I can stay positive on Thursdays when we are so close to Friday!) absolutely and utterly exhausted both physically and mentally. I’m just done.

So how did I get to this point? Well for starters, 2 weeks ago hubby and I woke up to our basement toilet that malfunctioned and unknowingly for 9 hours overnight flooded our basement. Yup. Wonderful. So we’ve been spending the last 2 weeks working with the insurance company, adjusters, contractors and flooring companies to fix the basement. Oh, did I mention I also haven’t had my washers/dryers since then? -_- So yeah it’s been just wonderful. I hate making decisions too so trying to decide on new walls, flooring and colors when you weren’t planning on it, is exhausting. I’d love to just tell them to do what they want and surprise me! (Though I also despise surprises ha)

On top of the basement fiasco, hubby started a new job with our church so he is working 7 days a week and between 60-70 hours a week between both of his jobs. Add that on top of my 40 hours a week job, balancing where the kids are going, family and friend events that seem to pop up every other day, keeping up on the house work, figuring out when and where I am going to do laundry, planning meals, giving baths, grocery shopping….the list goes on and on! This past Tuesday, I literally bawled my eyes out at the thought of making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner! So I did what any exhausted mom would do. I called Pizza Hut, ordered their big dinner box meal and called it a night. And you know what? It was delicious and I didn’t feel guilty! 🙂

Then tonight, I came home from work only to finish the cleaning I didn’t get to finish this morning, clean up dog poop (so much fun in 97 degree weather) take out the trash, get the kids ready for bed and just when I think I am going to take a nice relaxing hot shower before bed, I discover the toilet is clogged that Monkey failed to inform us of. Like come on! I just want to relax! So you know what, I rebelled. I ignored the toilet and showered for as long as I wanted to. Then my hubby so lovingly unclogged it. Woo!

Recently, my one friend told me that she gets exhausted just hearing how busy our lives are and it’s comical when she says it but it really made me wonder, why are we so busy? Why am I letting everything and everyone consume me to the point where I am so physically exhausted that it hurts to sit or even lay down? I have no idea but my hubby is incredible and he is helping me reprioritize my life. Learning by taking a step back and reordering everything we have going on to help bring some calmness back into our lives.

I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that in my daily devotional this morning, it talked about finding rest in Christ and learning to not be overwhelmed by our situations and responsibilities. In the ending application questions, one of them asks, “If Jesus were to look you in the eye, what would He suggest is the one thing you need to lay down at His feet?” Though I have not been able to answer the question, it does have me praying and seeking out what He wants me to lay down. Christ knows that I am buried deep in overwhelming stress but only He can alleviate it if I let Him.

So I am choosing to end this Friday Eve with my heavy burdens at His feet and prayers for a restful sleep so I can wake up and face another day of my crazy and beautiful life. But first, I need to clear all the laundry off my bed so I can actually lay down in my bed. 😉

**On a side note, I HIGHLY recommend ‘Kingdom Woman Devotional‘ by Tony Evans and Chrystal Evans Hurst.  I purchased it for my Kindle app and can read it anywhere from my phone. The devotions aren’t long but they are powerful. Definitely a great devotional for busy moms!**