The Challenge: Wearing Multiple Hats

Today three of us at work left at 8:30am to hold two meetings related to our latest fire station project in Sugar Land. We ended up getting back around 6:00pm, which I have to say is considered "early" given that some of my coworkers don't come back from out-of-town meetings until 9, 10 o'clock at night. Today's meetings were particularly important as far as the design goes, so it took a little more preparation than usual. I came in to work on Saturday and Sunday to print out our consultants' part of their work. The project in itself is a fast-paced one, so in more than one occasion I've felt the need to stay working an extra hour or so.

Sometimes it amazes me what a single hour's worth of extra work a couple of times a week will do to you. You become worn down, don't feel like doing anything when you get home. And I absolutely love my job, so I really can't complain. But then there are other responsibilities outside of work: being a good wife to Sam, taking care of the house, cooking meals, making sure I stay in touch with Mimi and Papito (my grandparents who raised me, and who live in Venezuela), doing laundry... we're not even parents yet!

Tonight I called Mimi, and the first thing she says is, "I kept waiting for your call on Sunday night, but you never called..." followed by, "Cecilia tells me that she hasn't seen you since December, is this true?" *sigh*. I try. It's not particularly easy to wear all the hats at once without having one tip over. I can only admire the people who seem to do what I do and SO much more, and they always have a smile on their face. Take my boss, Ray: that man stayed up until 3:00am this morning working on a proposal, and when he came in to work at 8:30am he was smiling. I truly respect him.

If there's one thing Sam reminds me every day (whether he realizes it or not), is that life NEEDS to be simple. I read in "The Purpose-Driven Life" that it's impossible to do everything people want you to do, and that a simpler lifestyle is more conducive to God. I try to simplify life, but it seems that when I do so, it comes at a cost. Maybe I'm not doing it right, yet. Between work, family, home, keeping up with people's birthdays, remembering and meeting deadlines, visiting with those who are close... time just seems to fly. And there's always someone who's not happy.

Lord, please help me discern what is truly important. Give me the wisdom and patience to... know how to wear these hats.