burdens & loads.

It took me a long time to find this rock in my yard. The dog and my neighbors looked at me like I was insane.

Hi friends, 

I’ve been feeling somewhat heavy hearted lately, nothing is necessarily wrong. Just daily life. You know the normal hustle of the day. I seem to get swept away by the daily anxieties of life: did I pay that bill, did I call my mom, have I fed the dog, did I give Sophia her snack? 

Our life can get pretty overwhelming if believe we’re made to handle it all ourselves. I believe much of our struggles come from not knowing what to carry and what to leave at Jesus’ feet. 

So let’s talk loads and burdens. Loads are the daily responsibilities of life. If you learn how to somewhat effectively carry loads, it can help you grow spiritually and strengthen your relationship with God and others. In my life this means dealing with an eye-rolling pre-teen, surviving dinner (someone always cries because of what’s on the plate, and most often it’s me), and attempting to make my health a priority. These daily struggles take up so much energy, but as stated in Romans 3, they are made to create endurance. And we all know marriage and parenting is going to take major endurance.

Romans 5 says it best…

Romans 5:3-4 (NLT)

³ We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. ⁴ And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.

Yes, my daughter saying “mom” a thousand times throughout the day or Jai forgetting that she had homework until the day of, definitely builds character because it’s not an option to give them back. These are my loads.

Then there are my burdens. Burdens are those weights of life that we were never meant to carry. Guilt, shame, and my old friend anger. This is the reason God gave us Jesus, so that we wouldn’t have to.

Scripture tells us over and over again, to cast our troubles to Him. So I challenge you, admit your short comings. Admit we can’t do it ourselves. We are not all-knowing or all-fixing. The sooner we accept that, the sooner we allow God to do His good work in us that can truly sustain our lives. 

Psalm 55:22 

22 Cast your cares on the Lord

    and he will sustain you;

he will never let

    the righteous be shaken. 

Now, here is the plot twist. I sometimes mistake my daily loads for burdens. My anxiety takes over and I give in to it. This means I yell at the kids, I binge eat bread, and I start nit-picking my husband. It’s not a pretty picture and I don’t like doing it. Lately, Derrick and I have been challenging ourselves to do what Romans 5 instructs us to do… rejoice. I find that nothing breaks that ugly cycle like gratitude. I have to be thankful for my loads and my burdens because it means I need Jesus. 

I need Him in my parenting.

I need Him in my marriage.

I need Him at work.

I need Him in my friendships.

His load is lighter, and His way is good.

XO, 

Ro