Margins

You know those blank spaces around a printed page? They are called "margins" and they serve the purposes of clarity, thought, reflection, and a brief respite for your eyes. Without margins, the words would run together and sometimes off the page (depending on how the printer feeds the paper), you would have no place to jot down a star next to an important thought and your eyes would tire more easily.

Does this sound like your life right now? I know that we have battled the lack of margins in our lives and a few years back, my husband and I read the wonderful book

Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives by Richard A. Swenson

 

which explores our tendency to push to the edges of our lives and leave no margin for the unexpected, unplanned, important, and restful events that do come up in our world. 

Last week, God showed me that I had been pushing the edges of the margins in my present circumstances: specifically, I need to plan two full days at home and limit myself to two errands a day when I am out. This is hard to face because I used to be able to tackle SO MUCH more and it seems like some errands are so short that I certainly could combine them, couldn't I? But with my health situation, changes must be made and I must recognize that my margins are different. 

This forces me to prioritize and plan better. It requires me to ask for help or decide that there is another way I could handle that particular errand. I also have realized again, how sneaky I can be in calling an errand something else--so I try to be VERY broad in what fits an errand: medical appointments, library trips, filling the gas tank, going to martial arts . . . really anything that takes me out of the home is an errand with the exception of a few refreshing events.

 

I wish I would have evaluated this sooner and not pushed into the necessary margins of my life. It is easy to say, "but I cannot cut back on anything!", yet, I needed to ask if I was really honoring God in walking along an edge that removed the protection that He desires. Can you relate? Take a step of faith and put back a margin--then see how God blesses you and provides when you do walk in faith while staying out of those margins!