Take Up Your Mat and Walk

Recently I came to the conclusion that it was time to stop making excuses in my life. It seems that I have kept a dozen or more excuses stored in my back pocket, just waiting to be summoned and put to use when needed.

Motherhood. I could stop with that excuse, as could many of us. Then there is owning a small business. Trying to keep up with the house, the dogs, the emails, the invites to birthday parties and baby showers, to name a few more.

It's not that any of those are not valid, because they are. A person only has so many hours in a day, and only so much energy to give. As legitimate as the excuses are, they were also hindering my ability to live fully into the calling God had on my life. To my pursuing the dreams I wish to see fulfilled.

The realization of this truth occurred during a car-ride conversation with my husband. It's a place where revelations often happen because we are in the same place at the same time, and we are able to engage in undistracted conversation. I was venting (aka, listing my excuses) as to why I wasn't meeting personal goals for myself. About why I was wallowing in my own feelings of being overwhelmed and stuck.

My husband looked at me and spoke truth in love. It was timely and convicting, and one that I desperately needed to hear.

"There will always be an excuse if you're looking for one. Our lives are not any harder than anyone else's. Everyone has hard things they face in life."

Ouch. But I knew what he spoke was true.