One More Thing

Do you like Jackie Chan? We do. He's funny. I like to watch the bloopers at the end of his movies to see the stunts that went wrong. It's like watching a train wreck. Anyway, he had a cartoon out several years ago. It was one of our favorites, and we still watch the reruns when they come on. He had an uncle in the show. Uncle would always say, as they were trying to save the world from impending danger, "And one more thing..." Like they needed one more thing to worry about. They're trying to save the world, can we cut them some slack. And, of course, that one more thing was extremely important. Don't do this one more thing and the whole world will implode. That's how I feel sometimes. I need to do that one more thing or my whole world will implode. I have decided that is a fallacy, a trick, fake, false. I have been working on eliminating, or not starting, that one more thing.

I had an opportunity to apply as a reviewer for a homeschool magazine. I love curriculum. I make no excuses about my love for and addiction to curriculum. However, that would mean reviewing several different curriculums a month. It's not all curriculum. Several of my friends got to review some natural soaps that have been a huge hit within our homeschooling community. It has even led my friend G to take a more natural route with her life. She has influenced several of us to take a look at our lives as well. But receiving the curriculum also means changing every few weeks. You have to use it to know if it works and what the pitfalls or positives are. Then you have to write a review. You have approximately a month to do this. I need a little more stability than that right now. I also think my kids need a little more stability than that right now. Maybe in a couple of years I will feel differently. But right now, it just feels like one more thing. One more thing to take my focus away from what our priorities are.

We had our Easter egg hunt at church last Saturday. We were asked if that would be our last activity for JAM. The crew and I had talked about doing an end of school party. That was tabled. We decided that we should go out with a bang and the egg hunt was it. It would be that one more thing. It would be that one more thing in an already overcrowded schedule. That one more thing to take focus away from the things we are already doing at church. With a schedule getting crowded with activities for the youth as we make our final push towards earning money for camp, I don't need one more thing. So JAM is done for this year, removing one more thing from the plate.

The ladies I dance with want me to be in the recital with them. I love my dance class. I think if you ever need to do something just for yourself, you should take a tap class. I don't want to hear that you have no coordination or rhythm or whatever. It's about having fun. Do it. But being in the recital is just one more thing. One more thing hubby and I have to figure out how to schedule. One more thing that would take focus away. One more thing that I would have to worry and stress about. I already do enough of that. With three kids in the recital and all that accompanies that, I do not need one more thing. After seven years of doing this, I have it down to a science. I know what to bring, what to leave in the car overnight, what not to ever leave in the car, what kind of hairspray works the best, etc, etc. Being in the recital would shift my focus from what I need to do. It would just be one more thing.

We are choosing to focus on certain things. Our focus is on our kids, our church kids, and our marriage. If something doesn't fit into one of those catagories, it doesn't fit. We have chosen to simplify our lives. Our lives are not simple by any means. But we are choosing to focus on specific things, instead of one more thing. Is there one more thing weighing you down? Unload it. It's just one more thing.