A Hole In My Bucket

There are some days when I awake and am truly ready to start the day. I get my chores done before most of the children arise and I feel like I have this whole "mom" thing down. Then of course, there are other days when it seems that no matter how hard I try, I get nothing accomplished. Every time I start a task someone is calling me to help them with their task. Those days are very draining, I feel like there is a hole in my bucket.

I have found that my attitude or bucket overflows to those around me. If my bucket is full and I am finding joy in serving my family, it seems that my family finds joy as well. When I am completing my chores without complaint and helping others joyfully....it seems that our children do the same. These are good days and our buckets are full.

However, the same happens in reverse. If I am crabby and dragging myself through the day, so does the rest of the family. When I let my chores go half done, their chores are often half done as well. A hole in my bucket seems to create a hole in everyone's bucket.

This seems pretty obvious to me now, but it has taken me a long time to see this connection. It appears that my little followers reflect their leader. They rarely go through their day with more enthusiasm or productive energy than I have. It reminds me of a something a pastor once shared with our worship team: "You set the standard. No one in the congregation will have more energy than you. If you want them to be excited about praising God, you need to be excited yourself." Interesting.... I set the standard for attitude in my home; I set the productive energy level; if I want them to be excited about helping each other, I need to be excited about helping them.

When I feel like there is a hole in my bucket, I am now going to strive to take a few moments and see if it can be fixed. I certainly don't want everyone going through their day feeling like there is a hole in their bucket. These days when I feel like my bucket is not full, I step away and give myself a "time out." I try to use this time out for a short time of prayer, maybe read a verse or two, and remember that I have the most important job in the world.... I am a mom and I have precious lives in my care and they will be the bucket fillers themselves one day.

Today I pray that your bucket is full, that you find joy in helping others and that your joy overflows to help fill someone else's bucket.