One of the questions I regularly struggle with in a visit is "how much is enough? I wish there was an extrinsic guideline that said "OK, you are done, wrap it up." When left to my subjective criteria I often replay the conversation several times over to see if I left at the right time.
'How much is enough' is a question I ask in my life too. This week my boys are gone so I have lots of time to be a very present wife, but I am only doing phone mothering. Then my boys will come back and I will try to be a very present mom, but my housework will suffer. Laundry or exercise? Read to the boys or finish my homework? I can fall asleep wondering if I did anything that day well enough.
I think this fixation with "enough" speaks to a spiritual challenge. I reread a chapter in Brennon Manning's book Abba's Child this morning. It ends with this quote "...the longer you spend time in the presence of Jesus, the more accustomed you grow to His face, the less adulation you will need because you will have discovered for yourself that He is Enough. And in that Presence, you will delight in the discovery of what it means to live by grace and not by performance."
My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9
you are enough!
ReplyDeleteErin,
ReplyDeleteI've been popping in to read your blog for a few months and I really enjoy it. I linked to it from your comments on Shauna Niequist's blog. I recently finished my first year of seminary classes and have hopes of eventually becoming a hospital chaplain. So your blog is a special treat to me--it feels like an insider's look and that's both scary and inspiring! I'm taking classes part-time and working full-time so it's going to take a while to get there, but I'm OK with that--lots to learn. I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate your writings and I'm glad to have discovered your blog.
Hi Kerri! thanks for writing. I can't recommend chaplaincy enough - even with the scary parts. Would love to hear how your journey progresses. Hang in there! Erin
ReplyDeletebefore reading this post I expected it to be a complaining post about being fed up with 'enough' chaplaining. glad to see it wasn't a tired rant of which I've read and written my fair share of 'enough.'
ReplyDeletegood post. hang in there. one week left!!!
fabulous post - especially reflecting on how much is enough - in life, in spiritual challenges, in doing the laundry, and for me, emailing. Glad that you are learning to speak Neuro, "Mahabita goinche mella turon by Saturday?"
ReplyDelete