Baggage

Traveling with children is an entirely different ballgame.  This weekend we will by flying with our kiddos for the first time.  I will just admit I have never spent so much time planning and calculating a trip. 

 

Usually, I see how much I can cram in my free carry-on bag and off we go.  But planning to fly with young children has been a totally different experience.  I have spent days figuring out what everyone needs, what bag they will be packed in, what things we will be in big trouble if we forget (we don’t have a rental car, so no runs to the StuffMart if we forgot something), and how to keep everyone entertained during the travel portion.  At the same time, I’m concerned about packing TOO much and having overweight suitcases as well as the excess stress of dragging around stuff we didn’t really need.  It has been an eventful process to say the least.

How do ya pack up all this gear, cuteness, AND luggage

It has also sounded much like a conversation I had this week about my life, stress level, and workload in multiple areas of my life.  One of the “coaches” I work with suggested to me this week that I should make a list of the things I need to get done (that was a silly request… spend 2 minutes with me and you would quickly realize my life is always running off 2-3 lists).  She also suggested I prioritize the list in the order it needs to be completed (again, duh, that is always how a list works, right?!) But THEN she said I should go through the list and start determining what could be done by someone else and start delegating off those tasks.  Ouch…. It really sounds like a super helpful plan, just not something I have ever been good at.

 

 Some of the things on my to do list are excess baggage- things that are weighing me down, stressing me out, and I need to pass them off.  As I have checked off the travel “packing” list I keep reminding myself… you don’t need to take it all.  Perhaps I need to apply that concept to other areas of my life.  There is definitely some stress-baggage I could pass off and allow my Savior to carry for me, for He is much stronger than I am, and he doesn’t have to work from a list.

 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30