September 16

How to Balance Conflicting Callings

Though it was the end of a very long day, trailing several marathon weeks, I walked out of leading Bible study ready to take on everyday life again. Hours of preparation preceded that quick and precious hour I had sans kiddos. I’d prepared a Bible study, prayed for hearts to be tender and the Spirit to speak, then guided a Word-centric discussion with a small group of women.

I should have walked out of that room as exhausted as I wandered in. Yet, I was ready to take on all the remaining tasks for the week. The typically dreaded bedtime routines, meal planning, and untamable laundry became less daunting. Additionally, my desire to connect with and love on my husband and children increased.

This is how I know I am in God’s will: when I leave that activity energized and excited to return to my callings of a wife, a mother, and a disciple of Christ.

Every woman has many callings.

As a Christian, you and I are called to many endeavors. First and foremost, we are all CALLED to walk intimately with Christ. We are each CALLED to be a part of a local church body and CALLED to use our time, vocation, and resources toward missional living — making Jesus known to those around us. If you are married, you are CALLED to be a wife and all that entails. If you have children, you are CALLED to the role and responsibilities of mom.

This seems like quite a bit already, doesn’t it? Yet most of us have seeds of another calling or two planted within our hearts. There are goals and dreams that keep us up at night, topics and ideas we can talk for hours about. These, too, can be callings — God-given passions and pursuits that we must steward — but they are often either sorely neglected or end up hijacking the place and priority of our primary CALLINGS.

I first felt this “clash of the callings” after the CALLING of motherhood had become overwhelming. My “Big C” CALLINGS and “little c” callings haven’t changed in the four years since I wrote that blog post. I certainly don’t feel as if I have every iron wrinkled out, however, I’ve come a long way in finding a synergy between the two. Fulfilling the God-given “little c” longings of my heart (which sometimes seem to pull me away from my precious everyday moments) have proven to fuel the “Big C” priorities of my life.

How to find your calling in life.

I spent some time last week chatting with Kat Lee and Stacey Thacker (two of my favorite people and incredibly wise women) about calling. It was a ton of fun. You can watch the chat below, as we talk about how to balance our CALLING with our calling.

(Short on time? Click the setting icon “cog” on the bottom right of the video viewer. There will be several settings that pop up. Look for the “speed” option and take your pick on how fast you would like to watch!) Can’t see the video? Click here.

 


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1. Listen right here on the blog.

How to Balance Conflicting Callings Part 1

How to Balance Conflicting Callings Part 2

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Tags

Following Jesus, Life, Podcast, season 1, The Everyday Woman


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  1. So true that the little “c” callings help fuel the big ones. Learning to walk this journey at the moment too.

    1. It is so great when you have a clear view of each type of calling, it really helps with our moments! Thanks for commenting.

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