I had just finished tucking our son into bed when I walked downstairs and rounded the corner to find a sock on the floor. I picked it up with high hopes that it was the missing black sock that my washer had mysteriously eaten a week earlier.
The average person would take one glance and think these looked like any other pair of socks. But, to me, they were my favorite pair of no-show black socks. They were just tall enough to stay put on my heel yet short enough to not show and make me the fashion fail mom.
As I bent over to pick up the black sock, I was disheartened to find it was my son’s sock not my prized no slip, no show sock.
I did what any emotionally, physically, and spiritually exhausted woman would do and began to cry.
As I cried, I had the thought, “What is wrong with you Rachael? You are not a crier! Yet here you are crying over a stupid sock! Pull yourself together!”.
As a student who is getting my master’s in therapy, I know that moments like this are called triggers. Clearly, I wasn’t upset over a sock. Rather, the lost sock was the straw that broke the camel’s back. But this camel was exhausted.
Luckily, no one witnessed my emotional break down over a sock. But I knew I had two choices. I could pull myself together and act like I didn’t just sob over a lost sock. Or I could recognize that crying over a sock is an indicator that something is not right in my spirit.
Thankfully, I decided to let God do some deep diving into my heart to help me figure out why I am so drained.
Here’s the part of the story that I would love to say I spent hours reading his word. But what do many of us do when are drained? We scroll social media in hopes that someone has an answer or at least something funny that will help numb the pain of the circumstances. And I did just that very thing.
Except this time someone did have the answer. A sweet friend of mine shared an image (who she does not know who it originated from) and then I shared this same post and within hours it had thousands of likes on Instagram. Here’s what the quote said:
As soon as I read this quote, I knew God was speaking directly to my heart. Without realizing it, I had tried to be all things to all people. Not only is this completely unrealistic but it’s quite prideful to think I could fill a role in people’s lives that only God can fill.
As I pressed into this topic in my prayer time, I felt God remind me that while a noodles’ purpose is to be boiled, drained and consumed, that is not the purpose of human beings. In fact, he called us human beings not human doings. We are called to simply be in his presence and everything else flows from it.
Here are 4 simple ways God reminds me to practice the art of being:
- Be you and stop trying to be all things to all people. Ask God who you are called to serve in this season and be intentional to stick to them.
- Be filled up so you have something to pour out. Staying filled looks different for us all but I do know it’s much more than simply getting sleep or working out. We must stay filled mind, soul, body and spirit. Ask God which area may need some extra care in this season. Read a book. Take a bath. Go for a walk. Go into nature with no phone (shocking, I know). Do whatever it takes to stay full and restored.
- Be a vessel and pour from your overflow. When we notice we have nothing left to give we must stop pouring. All that we do must be from our overflow not from our own energy sources. When we minister both inside and outside of our home, if we do not have an extra reserve to overflow then we need to put ourselves in time out until we do.
- Be still and let God do the heavy lifting in your life. Matthew 11:28 reminds us that Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest”.
I’ve been applying these principles to my own life and I can already notice a shift in the atmosphere in my heart and home. I can’t say that I am completely full, but I am not crying over lost socks anymore. Will you join me in living from a place of overflow?
