Sometimes the best thing we can do when our plans fall apart is to simply take a break. Every summer, equipment breaks down at critical moments in the growing season. The belt on the mower breaks, a tire goes flat, the battery goes out… and if it’s not that, then maybe it’s sickness or allergies or injury. Even though I know this is bound to happen, I fight it. My instinct is to get frustrated, maybe angry, I might cry after a string of issues pushes me to my breaking point or maybe I let out a swear word or maybe I just get whiny. After 10+ years of dealing with issues like this every summer, you’d think I’d know better. That I’d have learned to let it go, to account for the unforeseen problems, and just not let it disturb my peace.

In some ways, I have learned. I have learned that I should plan for problems. I’ve re-looked at what we do, trying to decide if there are things we need to just let go of and stop doing. We’ve explored tools that don’t require tech, and even invested in some. But I still find myself frustrated by the inevitable.

Full disclosure, I’ve been feeling overwhelmed for about a year and a half. That is another story. I know that something has to change. The overwhelm has improved drastically since November, but it comes and goes. My life has never been so full, and it’s great, but when life gets like this, we need to learn how to adapt and adjust, because as much as we might want to “go back to the way things were,” we just can’t. So, what’s got to give?

As obvious as this may seem to others, it wasn’t to me. What has to give? Me. I do. I need to surrender. I need to surrender my plans and instead of venting my frustration, look at the situation and ask “Okay, Lord, what do you want me working on right now?” “Where do I need to be?” “What should I be doing?”

Today, as I dealt with issue after issue, and I felt like losing my cool, I noticed that God had given me the grace to stop the rising anger. What good was it doing the situation? None. Was it helping or hurting? What was I so upset about? I didn’t handle myself perfectly, but that’s probably the best I’ve ever done in a situation like that. Every frustration turned into a moment to take a deep breath and say a prayer. I thanked God for what I could do.

At one point, I went in the house and watched a movie with the kids and finished embroidering an apron I started a few weeks ago, and that apron got me motivated to start tackling the kitchen mess, which has been hanging over my head. It inspired me to make new beeswax wraps. I really want our family to eat well and be healthy, but for a few years, I haven’t had the mental energy or commitment to make that happen, and I suddenly felt a little excited again.

The kids and I had already planned to go to the beach in the afternoon, but we went a little earlier, which was good, because then we missed the rain that came through, and would have caused our outing to be cut short. Instead, we got exactly the amount of time we needed. And I had the best experience at the beach I’ve had with the kids in a long time. It was fun and relaxing. I wasn’t too tired from having done a bunch of yardwork.

While I was in town with the kids, I had to run into the store, and there I saw a few of the Sisters from the local convent. I’ve been wanting to tell them for years that I just love seeing them out around town, that it always makes my day. But I’ve always been too shy to do it. Today, I went up to one and told her thank you for the beauty of the witness of living her vocation and how happy it makes me to see the sisters out and about. It made her day, and it was a bonus to an already pretty great afternoon. Had we gone to the beach a little later, the sisters wouldn’t have been out doing their shopping.

Sometimes, as a homeschooler or homesteader, we can fall into this trap of thinking we need to be at home all the time, when in fact, we might just need a day at the beach, or a hike through some trails in a park to get refreshed. Sometimes our plans need to be disturbed so we can be present for the people who need us. The equipment broke so I could be with the kids. It broke so I could find inspiration for an area in life where I’ve been feeling defeated.

My plans were derailed, but God had something better in store. Over and over this year, I have found myself questioning the workload. What can we do differently, what needs to change, what needs to go? I still don’t have all of the answers, but little by little, the Holy Spirit is opening my eyes to things. Prayer does wonders for the things that weigh us down.

And really, prayer does wonders! When you’re having a bad day and everything seems to be going wrong, ask your kids to pray for you. You may just be blown away by the power of their prayers. Just their love for you will be sure to brighten your spirit. If you don’t have kids, ask your parents or your friends or even an acquaintance. Ask the saints! Call on your patron saints when things go wrong, not to fix your problems, but just to pray that you have a good attitude. And don’t forget your guardian angel!

When things go wrong, start asking God what He’d really like to see you doing in this moment. Maybe it’s a moment to grow in patience. Maybe you need to be in a particular place (for your benefit or the benefit of another). Maybe he just wants to remind you of His creation through the song of that bird. If you’re feeling stuck in a rut or overwhelmed on your homestead, I encourage you to take a break. Get out! Our homesteads are wonderful places that we don’t really want to leave, but sometimes God wants to remind us of the beauty in other places. Sometimes he wants us to encounter others, and see their witness or be their witness. Sometimes we need to witness the brokenness in the world to recognize that the things in our life that are “broken” aren’t so bad after all, and rather than throwing a pity party, we can start to pray for the needs of others.

Where in your life do you need to let go and let God?

In Christ,
Danielle