Ep. 14: The Best Yes

Happy new school year, parents and kids! There’s something so beautiful about a new season beginning. But the slow mornings of summer are gone, and suddenly it feels like everything fills up at once.

The calendar fills up. Routines change. Have you seen those fancy electronic calendars? They start out with all this white space, and then we add school events, sports, work, church, appointments, time with people we love—and before we know it, the white space is gone.

As a recovering people pleaser, I’ve had a tendency to say yes to everything. Yes, I can help. Yes, we can make that work. Yes, I can fit one more thing in.

And most of those are good things. Community is so important. Showing up for people matters. We weren’t created to do life alone.

But during busy seasons, I’m reminded that sometimes the best yes is actually a no.

Because when my schedule gets too busy, my brain gets loud. And when everything is loud, I can focus on what feels most urgent—or fall into people-pleasing—instead of stopping to ask, “Lord, what actually matters right now?”

It makes me think of Mary and Martha in Luke 10.

Martha was busy serving and taking care of everything—and those weren’t bad things. But she became so distracted by all the doing that she was missing the opportunity to simply be with Jesus.

Meanwhile, Mary sat at His feet.

Jesus tells Martha, “You are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one.” And He says Mary had chosen what is better.

That really hits me, because sometimes choosing what is better means leaving something else undone—and I personally struggle with that.

So as we head into a new school year and new routines, maybe the question isn’t only, “What do I need to fit into my schedule?”

Maybe it’s also, “What space do I need to protect?”

Space for the Lord. Space for ourselves. And space to truly be present with the people God has placed in our lives.

Because we need community, but we also need quiet. We need to pour into others, but we also need time at His feet.

So let this be our pulse check this week:

Where has life gotten too loud—and what might I need to say no to so I can say yes to what is better?

hank you all, and happy school year!

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