The Man of Many Hats

Sometimes I feel like the man in the photo, juggling many hats as I switch from one responsibility to another.  In any given day I am a son, brother, server, bus boy, mathematician, student, blogger, youth pastor, and friend.

Even as a youth pastor I often feel like I work multiple jobs.  Today alone as I prepared for our Valentine's Dinner at church tomorrow night I was a shopper, chef, event planner, janitor, accountant, baby sitter, manager, designer, and counselor.  And this was wedged in between going to work at my other job, finishing up a homework assignment, and writing this blog post.

I don't say all this to boast or to receive your pity, but to show how complex life can be at times.  I know that I am certainly not alone in this, and I am sure that there will be those who will read this and think that my day was easy compared to their typical schedule. 

Why do we allow our lives to be so complex?  Do we do the things that we do merely to fill the time?  Is it because we feel obligated to be involved?  Have we lost the ability to live in simplicity?  Some days I sit and long for activity and other days I run and ache for simplicity.

I love the time that I spend at my family's vacation home on Put-in-Bay, and island in Lake Erie.  While the downtown area of the island is filled with the hustle and bustle of weekend tourist shopping or getting a drink at one of the many local watering holes, I spend most of my time at our cottage on the quiet western shore of the island.  I spend most of my time with the television turned off, our of cell phone rang, with a book or fishing pole in my hand, or doing yard work.  I'm not on anyone's schedule.  Not my own or anyone else's.  I am free to be.  It is through these times of simplicity that I reconnect with my Heavenly Father and recharge so that I can go back back to the complexity of living in the city and working two jobs.

I need to find moments of simplicity in my daily life.  We all do.  I keep a very detailed calendar so that I can budget my time wisely.  This allows me to manage my time well, helping to navigate the complexity of my life and find moments of simplicity.  I need to commit myself to times of reading, prayer, meditation, stillness, and quiet every day.  Without this period of quiet simplicity I would not be able to deal with the complexity I am faced with in the world.  It is necessary to take this time to wait on the Lord to renew my strength (Isaiah 30-31).  Amidst all the things the complex life has to offer, it is in the moments of stillness that I find peace in Christ.

"Be still, and know that I am God."  Psalm 46:10a NIV