Busier Than a One-Armed Wallpaper Hanger

Do you have any funny idioms like this that were passed along in your family or by friends and in-laws?

I don't remember where I heard this one but it sure did stick. It's a great visual for how busy I feel lately. (NOTE: I like busy.)

My motto: Better busy than bored.

So what am I so doing? Answer: the usual motherhood stuff, housework, cooking, Facebooking, homeschooling, babysitting, helping friends, fundraising and planning for Glory Bound Academy, trying out curriculum from five different companies, preparing reviews, my usual writing endeavors and a few added ones. Of course, I squeeze in some time for exercise: swimming at the Y and walking. Oh, a little shopping added in there. UGH- it is my least favorite thing to do but it must be done. Of course, there are other activities here that hide between the lines. It can all be defined as the same word. Busy.

Soon, I will have visitors, one after the other. My middle son's older sister and then my oldest son are coming before the summer ends. The youngest child's sister wants to come too. Oh, boy!

Me? I'm wishing to drive across the states to visit family and friends. While, I'm there, I would go to the beach and soak up the salt air and water and fresh, COOL, New England breezes. I'd stop in NY, eat some Jewish cuisine, NY Bagels, shop at Wegmans and drive through the mountains to see foliage. Then, when I get back, I would become a perpetual student and learn all the things in which I always wanted to obtain a degree: Art, Journalism, Photography, English, Special Education, Counseling, Videography/Cinematology, Cosmetology, Sound Technology, Carpentry, Music-(piano, guitar, songwriting, more voice) and more Acting Classes. Well, I can dream, can't I? LOL. Like I'm not busy enough.

Why is it that life never has enough time or money to allow those with big dreams to do it all? (I know, not all dreams are meant to reach reality. Some are not in the plans for our lives.)

When we get to heaven, we can do it all, but will we still want to?

What will we be busy doing up there?

Does the busyness that we find ourselves enveloped in here on earth have any significance on what happens up there?

I am reminded now of a hymn we used to sing when I was a child. "Only one life, so soon 'twill be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last."

I hope and pray that all my busyness is not just that. It's my desire to leave a hand print on the world with eternal purposes and gifts such as love, faith, courage, hope, freedom and JOY!

My name is BeckyJoie. Joie is the French spelling for Joy. One thing I feel called to do on earth is to bring joy to people-to show them that God can bring them JOY through ANY circumstance. There is joy in doing, joy in feeling, joy in living, joy in serving, joy in waiting, joy in passion, joy in resting, joy in play, joy everyday, joy in the valley and joy on the mountain. JOY, JOY, JOY! You can have it, too.

When you picture the idiom of a one-armed person hanging wallpaper, it seems hectic. You picture a grouch, barking at everyone to come help or a person running frantically to each next stage of the process, trying to get it all done, trying to make it all right but never feeling like it's possible with only one arm available to help. Sometimes I feel like that BUT NOT FOR LONG.

I have the JOY, JOY, JOY, JOY down in my heart. This is what fuels me. I know that in whatever I do, in whatever stages of life I find myself, stressed, rest or blessed, that God will be with me and help me to spread His love and joy which cannot be explained by any means other than Sovereign Injection. (God's sovereign way of inserting Himself through and in our circumstances, bringing us joy--come what may.)

So, in these busy seasons of life, I thank God for His joy. May we never feel like one-armed wallpaper hangers, but instead like the movie projector, sitting there, shining on a canvas/screen to show the world all that God is doing in and through us.