NOT EVERYTHING THAT WEIGHS YOU DOWN IS YOURS TO CARRY

On my desk, I have a little sticky note that says, “Not everything that weighs you down is yours to carry.”

I’m not sure where that quote came from or who said it, but certainly, Jesus speaks a word about that topic in Matthew 11:28-30.

“COME TO ME, ALL WHO LABOR AND ARE HEAVY LADEN, AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST. TAKE MY YOKE UPON YOU, AND LEARN FROM ME, FOR I AM GENTLE AND LOWLY IN HEART, AND YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. FOR MY YOKE IS EASY, AND MY BURDEN IS LIGHT.”

I know I’m not alone in doing that, but feelers like me, people who feel things deeply,  take on the weight of the world.

Being a feeler is why, on the one hand, it’s not a surprise that God gave me beLydia, a nonprofit that prevents child sex trafficking. On the other hand, it makes no sense because a feeler isn’t necessarily a get-it-done kind of person.

I empathize and feel the weight of trafficking, but I don’t necessarily feel like I’m the person to do something about it. (Haha God, good joke picking me to lead this).

I love to start projects, not end them, but then I carry the thought of the unfinished project with me every single day.

To be clear, I want them to end.

I want the projects finished. Not a strong suit of mine though – the finishing part.

I went ahead and ordered all the 2016 family photos I had a year ago so I can finally scrapbook them (that was the year beLydia started, and my old life ended).

The photos arrived, I spread them out on the table and finished maybe 1/4 of the year.

That was last spring.

But here’s where the weight comes in.

I THINK ABOUT IT ALL THE TIME.

I think about how I need to finish that. Why can’t I finish it? Meanwhile, I ordered my 2017 and 2018 photos (and now will have to order 2019). So the weight piles up, and then I start to feel paralyzed.

I JUST WANT TO FINISH EVERYTHING.

Scrapbooks aren’t life or death (obvi), but I do that for everything in my life. I carry the weight of the world and pile other things on top of it.

And it all adds up. I have my empty scrapbooks, organizing our playroom, THE GALA, all the things we have planned for 2020, and on and on.

One project after the other, and it’s heavy!

My word for 2020 is LESS, and that came about because of feeling burdened by overwhelm.

I was in the middle of looking for a present that I literally thought I had accidentally thrown away (turns out I wrapped it and put the wrong name tag on it —hi, I’m unprofessional). I was super stressed and annoyed because it happens all the time.

In the middle of my fury and desperation to find that stupid present, my husband asked me what I wanted for Christmas, and I screamed, “LESS!!! I want LESS for Christmas!”

Less overwhelm, less stuff (clothes, books, gadgets I buy and don’t need), less worry. For sure, less distraction. Less waiting until the last minute to do things (please note, I waited until the last minute to write this post).

And reading the quote, “Not everything that weighs you down is yours to carry,” doesn’t necessarily feel right to me because I know it will take work to get to the point where I don’t feel the weight.

Or maybe I will feel the weight, but I can let go and let someone or Someone else (JESUS!) carry it. But I’m not there yet.

Not everything that weighs you down is yours to carry