There’s a hint of pink in my cheeks as I write this title. Wasn’t I just writing about tuning out, and slowing down, and the quiet life? Haven’t I thought abundantly and spoken often against the hurry and busyness that we are so often drawn into? I have been challenged – continuously over the past several years, particularly as our children have grown – to live counter-culturally, swimming upstream in a raging river that yells at me that life is going to be busy! your children will run in many directions! you may as well kiss goodbye the simple years! No, my husband and I have said, we will choose carefully our children’s activities; we will limit our extracurriculars; we will assess our commitments regularly. Particularly as living outside of one’s home culture increases long-term stress, we have experienced burnout, and the difficult family season that came from it. So, no thank you, we have said, to the voices who insist we cannot have a peaceful family home and schedule, from which we extend all the goodness Christ enables us to.

But, for a variety of reasons, this first term of the year ( Jan – March ) hit us like a tsunami. Some of the commitments had been part of our life for a long time; some were new. We felt we could handle some new. Some were out of our control; some were of our own volition. There was trepidation; perhaps not enough asking for wisdom. At any rate, within a week, I realize we had overcommitted, and it was too late to pivot. For the next ten weeks, we would have to grin and bear it, our too-full, busy (gasp) schedule, which we had brought upon ourselves.

It hasn’t been easy. Our family life has been less than ideal. There have been many costs to our willingness to succumb to busyness in this season, and I have knowingly felt each one of them. We are nearly finished with this term, now, and looking longingly for the quieter, more intentional life we have crafted for our family.

In the midst of this season, I have also felt God’s grace alongside the shame over our choices. He has kindly sustained me personally. He has not condemned our overcommitment (though I have plenty). On this side of our busy season, I am realizing that a season is exactly what it was: passing, temporary, changing. Just as our earth’s seasons are marked by weather patterns and daylight shifts, so too we have life seasons marked by different patterns and shifting light. I found myself embracing a rhythm for the busy season which still afforded me pockets of quiet (essential for this introvert). We planned our rest days with more intentionality, realizing the treasure they were. I found myself leaning into particular practices for this term, knowing it would end, and I could readjust when that happened. These are a few practices that have helped sustain me through this busy season:

prioritize a quiet time // for me, this has most often been early in the morning, before my children are awake. With a cup of coffee and my Bible open on my lap, I can sink into the beginnings of my day with Christ. For others, particularly with small children, mornings may not be feasible – but finding a small window for fellowshipping with Jesus has been essential for me.

keep a good list // this is a practice I have developed and used in different seasons, and this busy season was one of them. We know that every good and perfect gift is from God (James 1:17). Taking a moment from my morning quiet time to pray through the good gifts in my days and jot them in my journal has helped to shift my focus from what felt like too many demands onto God’s good care, provision, and constant faithfulness.

take a walk // and not for exercise, wink. (Though of course it helps!) There is little that clears my head like a good stroll out of doors, looking up at the shifting clouds and fluttering leaves (or falling snow, depending where you are about now). Even if just for ten minutes, it’s been a grace.

plan for rest // as mentioned above, my husband and I began to plan our rest days with more intention in this season – should we head to the dam on Saturday? I’d like to get a run in on Sunday. This may seem obvious, but I’ve read a bit lately about how if we don’t think through and plan how to rest well, we often squander our rest time in ways that aren’t truly life-giving and refreshing. I have found this to be very true. Good, quality rest requires intentional thought and planning.

light a candle and put the kettle on // I can’t tell you how these simple acts – even just saying I’m going to put the kettle on lowers my blood pressure. Maybe a medical doctor would disagree, but certainly the pressure in my brain decreases! There’s something about a candle and a cup of tea (for whoever wants!) that shifts the atmosphere in our home, just a little; it’s calming, centering, nourishing even.

prioritize sleep // sleep tends to be more challenging for me in difficult or high pressure seasons, so doing all that I can to ensure good rest at night must be a priority. That has meant heading to bed early, putting a diffuser in my room, finding ways to wind down, and taking extra supplements when needed.

release high pressure expectations // there’s still much that must be done in a busy season, but some of those expectations can be deferred until the season ends. For us, while we have still done quite a bit of hospitality, some particular events we have set aside for later, knowing our capacity was maxed out. The plan is not to forgo the good things, but rather, plan for when our margin returns.

This busy season is coming to a close for me. We have intentionally looked ahead at the next term, and made decisions about what we can say yes to, and what we must say no to. And I’m looking forward to this next season, a return to that quieter life, in which we have all learned to love and thrive. If you are finding yourself in a busy season, I hope these practices will be bits of grace into your life.