The Juggle is Real
Rebekah Creeden, Graduate of CCU Online, Master in Organizational Leadership
I am a creature of habit. At an early age, I realized that I thrive on routine and consistency, that I do not like surprises of any shape or form. I established a structure that served me well. It guided me through my youth, the college years, early adulthood, and when I became a stay-at-home mother of two. However, no amount of routine or structure could have prepared me for the shock of finding myself a divorced, single mom after 13 years of marriage. My world went from steady and composed to what felt like a three-ring circus.
It was during this time that I was inspired to go back to school. I had my bachelor's degree and a few years of work on display on my resume, but I was a stay-at-home mom until I found myself in a position where I needed to provide for myself and my kids.
In order to provide for my children, I enrolled at CCU Online. The pursuit of my Master's in Organizational Leadership would not only help me provide, but it would fulfill God's calling on my life. While finances are always a concern when heading back to school, my primary anxiety centered on how I would be able to manage the time it would take to be successful in classes while keeping my kids the priority.
How was I going to juggle being a full-time mom, full-time employee, and full-time graduate student?
Over time, I developed my time management strategies and found the following to be the most impactful and productive:
- Scheduling family time
- Prioritizing and listing the tasks that have an immediate need or can be completed long term.
- Setting a timer for tasks that take focus and need to be as distraction-free as possible. My kids could see that the activity was important but temporary.
- Assigning age appropriate chores for the kids, allowing me to manage other household tasks.
- Waking up early before the kids get up and completing my chores/tasks
- Sunday Night Meal Prepping: All breakfast/lunches/snacks/dinner were prepped for the week with the help of the kids.
- Setting aside pride and asking for help.
- Making time for PRAYER
While these "tricks" help juggle the tasks and events of daily life, it is so important to remember our humanness; I had to remind myself that life would be okay if I didn't complete every item on my checklist in a single day. Ultimately, it came down to grace, embracing the grace that God extends to us as his children and living in the freedom of that gift.
This is not a free pass that permits us to fulfilling the vocations God has entrusted to us. It is the recognition of the fact that we are a work in progress and cannot extend this grace to ourselves; that it is only our relationship with God through the faith given to us by the Holy Spirit that allows us to receive the gift of grace.
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
– 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (ESV)
The "juggle" of life is real, but praise God that he covers our insufficiencies with His grace and redeems every aspect of life. I encourage you, if you are interested in starting or continuing your education, to see if CCU Online, rooted in this grace and truth, is right for you.