Too much temptations

There are many temptations that face us daily: spend too much money, watch too much tv, eat too much food, waste too much time. One of the "too much" temptations I struggle with is doing too much. Scheduling too many activities, saying yes to too many requests, planning too many things on my calendar.

I know this. My friends know this. And my husband certainly knows this. I keep our life very busy. When I go out of town for the weekend my husband sits home and does nothing - and he loves it!

My personality is one that does not sit still. I like to be busy, be involved, be a part of everything. I don't ever want to miss out and I certainly don't want to disappoint.

But I also know that all these good, fun activities or events or commitments can be tiring on my heart, my soul, my marriage and my relationships. Because I know this is an area of weakness for me I am striving to make wise decisions with what goes on my calendar. In order to do that, I need to pray for guidance....and then wait on the Lord for his peace and his timing.

That means not immediately saying 'yes' to requests for my help or 'yes' to invitations - whether that be coffee or a wedding. When I take the time to seek God about my decisions, or be sensitive to promptings from the Holy Spirit, my temptation to say 'yes' might be replaced with a 'no thanks', 'maybe' or 'another time'.

Some weeks I do better than others but these words from Ruth Bell Graham are a gentle reminder about the consequences of living a too much kind of life: "The definition of traveling light may vary from one individual to another. But most of us need to trim off some excess weight. We have too many social involvements, an overabundance of good but unnecessary meetings. We are on more boards than one person can adequately or usefully serve. Remember the caution: Beware of the barrenness of a busy life."

What are your too much temptations? Are you ready to make choices today to combat those temptations?