Every time I ask someone the question “How ‘s it going?” or “How have you been?“, no one, and I mean no one, has ever given the response “I really have nothing to do” or “I’m really bored” or “There are just too many hours in the day“. On the contrary, everyone’s response is simply, “Busy, Busy, Busy!” Soccer games for kids, jobs, exercise routines, yard work, answering emails, eating, sleeping, driving, social gatherings, church, softball teams, “keeping up with the Jones” are all things that keep us busy. And then we have the urge to update all that we do on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms, and then, as if we have nothing else to do, we keep up with everyone else’ s updates!!! Yikes!
Don’t worry! I’m not the one who’s going to say that social media is of the devil or that you and your family need to sell everything you have, go live in the country with no internet, TV or access to the outer world, and live off of the land for the rest of your life. I simply want to say “have balance!” Jesus said that He came to give us “life, and life more abundantly”… not stressed, not busy, not overwhelmed life…but ABUNDANT LIFE. Can we have an abundant life without having a busy, stressed life? A verse in Psalm 143:10 has answered that question for me and has brought balance to my life lately. It says, “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.” I don’t know about you, but I long for “level ground”. I long for balance! It is possible to have abundant life on level ground! Let Psalm 143:10 be your prayer!
Pastor David's Thursday Thoughts 
Balance certainly is difficult to strike in this always on, always connected world. Thanks for the reminder that we often make it harder than it needs to be.
I think, often times, we suffer from a lack of concrete and specific goals and instead operate in a constant keeping-our-head-above-water state. A monthly budget is a good example. We can set aside time to put our goals to paper and tell our money where it’s going to go before the month begins (to borrow from Dave Ramsey), or we can just spend as we go, and end the month wondering how it is we have too much month at the end of the money.
Setting those goals will mean we have an on-going filter that everything that comes our way is sifted through, making it a lot easier to know what to say “yes” and what to say “no” to.