There is somebody out there who is completely caught up with their to-do list.

There is always that one person. But then there are the rest of us. Those of us who feel like every time we check one or two things off the list, 4 or 5 new things are added. And then there are the items that aren’t necessarily on the to-do list, but they still need to be done over and over. Such as dishes, laundry, answering emails, cleaning the house, yard-work, or lesson planning (specifically for the homeschool mamas). I’ve had times where I have laid in bed at night not sleeping because of all of the things that I was stressing about needing to get done.

For myself, it typically feels like when I seem to have a strong grasp in one area, another area inevitably gets put on the back-burner. If I’m getting a lot of work done, the house might be a mess, or if I’m really focused with homeschooling, I might not be doing a great job at staying connected with people. And I am sure that I am not the only one. For a long time, I felt defeated and alone, as if there was something wrong with me because I couldn’t seem to get caught up. But then I started to see moms posting and people would bring up their overwhelming to-do lists up. And I realized…wow this is pretty normal.

So how do we manage it? How do we keep from feeling like we are drowning, if it is unlikely that we never will completely get caught up (or at least for a long time)?

At first I wasn’t sure, but then I saw (unfortunately I cannot remember where) a mom sharing about submitting our to-do lists to God. Duh! It hit me like a ton of bricks. I often pray submitting my overall life to God, asking him to do his will, I submit my day to Him asking Him to by glorified by it; so why had I never thought to pray and submit my to-dos to him, allowing Him to guide the priorities on my to-do list? Haha maybe I am alone, and the rest of you already do this…but for some reason, that had never clicked into place for me.

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and learn not on our own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” is a verse that I have memorized and one I often sing with my daughter (from Steve Green’s Hide Em’ in Your Heart) and I often thinks about submitting our family, our futures, our finances, our jobs, etc. to him. But it says submit ALL your ways to him-so that includes all the chores, all odd-jobs, and anything else that might be on our list. When I thought of this scripture, in light of that, it felt like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders.

It doesn’t mean your to-do list will never be overwhelming, in fact right now mine is about the longest it has ever been.

Now when I sit down and look at my to-do list I don’t always go in order, but rather I look through the list and pray that God would guide me and it often means I choose things based on what makes the most sense for the time I have, a deadline that may change, etc. And I am also reminded that I am to glorify God in all that I do, which includes how I handle the list of never-ending tasks.

Submitting our ways to him, also means admitting that we can’t do it all; that we can’t do it without him. As humans, our pride often gets in the way of that. It’s hard to surrender control, and even when we have, it’s easy for us to try and take it back. One of my favorite verses, 1 Peter 5:6-7 says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” Long To-Do Lists can also cause stress and anxiety in our lives, but this verse says cast ALL your anxiety on him, not just the big things.

God wants to be a part of the nitty-gritty of our everyday lives. He desires for us to invite him into even the not-so-important details.

We don’t have to have anxiety over everything that we need to get done. In fact, God has convicted me on multiple occasions that when I allow that stress and anxiety to pile up, I am not fully trusting him. I’ve learned over the years that even when I have an epiphany and something clicks into place, it still takes time to for the rest of me to catch up. I still catch myself getting overwhelmed and worrying; but now I can stop myself in my tracks and remind myself of the truth and give that list over to God!

And if you are reading this and can relate-we don’t need to let our To-Do Lists run our lives; we can pray and practice giving Him those details (over and over until it becomes a habit), and we can memorize scripture that reminds us of that truth. And little by little, that never ending To-Do List can become a general guide to our God-glorifying Day, rather than tying up all of our time and haunting us at night when we should be sleeping!