My friend Darla is incredible! She is a mother of 4, a great mom, a wonderful friend and she is full of wisdom and wit! She is an inspirational speaker and travels to churches and women’s groups to inspire us. The best thing about her is that she is genuine, she tells you like it is and she is open about her struggles. Her speaking engagements led her into the path of blogging and she has quite a following!
Her blog site is called “I Get To” and I am lucky I Get To read it! Below is her story and a link to her site. You will be glad You Get To read it too!
Check out her site and sign up to get her blog posts sent to your email. I Get To!!
Get-to Heart in a Have-to World by Darla Baerg
When I got married and began having children, I imagined how my life was going to look. I envisioned things like a beautiful home, wonderful meals which I lovingly prepared on the table each night, and sweet sounds of children playing as I helped another child with homework. I really wasn’t sure even Norman Rockwell could have painted a picture as beautiful as the one I had in my mind.
It really didn’t take long at all though until reality set in. Laundry piled up, my meals never looked (or tasted for that matter!) like I thought they would, floors constantly needed cleaning, children argued, and to be honest, it started to not be as fun as I had once imagined.
I felt like no matter how hard I worked, I would never get ahead. And even worse than that, I didn’t even really want to do it. I was tired, frustrated and burned out.
During this time, we took our family (ages 2,5,6 and 8) for a weeks vacation to a Christian family camp. Little by little I began to realize how much fun I was having - how much I was enjoying my family. Life seemed easy there...wonderful counselors were helping with the kids, all our meals were prepared and best of all....they swept the floor when we were finished!
The problem was that I was dreading the trip back home. I knew when we got there it was back to me again. Back to the laundry, carpool, homework, cleaning, cooking life I thought at one time I was going to enjoy so much.
Towards the middle of our camp week, the parents were given a “free day.” We could do whatever we wanted (and that included doing nothing!) from 9 AM until 3 PM. The counselors entertained and fed the kids and called “enjoy your day!” to us as we left.
I decided about mid-morning to go to the ladies Bible Study. During this time we went around the room sharing our prayer requests. Many women shared very troubling things going on in their lives....marriage problems, sickness, etc. Although I felt somewhat silly voicing my request among those, it was truly what I was struggling with and wanted desperately to resolve. I shared with the women how I felt I had lost the joy of serving my family. I felt like I had so much I had to do and never knew if I could really get it all done. It wasn’t that I was hoping Merry Maids would show up at my house (although that would have been nice!) and to be honest, I truly didn’t know how the prayer could or would be answered. I just felt I needed to share it.
Just a few hours later I went to pick up my son. I thanked his counselor and she left....and I assumed that after spending 6 straight hours in a room of 2 year olds she was off for some much needed rest and relaxation. I put my son’s bathing suit on and we immediately headed over to the camp’s lagoon for some afternoon fun.
When we arrived, the first thing I saw was my sons counselor....up on the lifeguard stand!
I called up to her....”Hollywood (her camp name), what are you doing?!”
“I’m on lifeguard duty” she replied.
“Do you not get a break?” I asked incredulously.
She responded.....”oh, this is my get to.”
“Your what?!”
“My get to....you know I “get to” do this,“ she said as she pumped her arm in the air as if to say “whoo hoo!”
It was then that I asked her.....”but do you have to?”
“Yes, we have to” she said. “They assign us our jobs, but we call them get-tos because they are opportunities we have to “get to” serve the families here. I “get to” serve on the lifeguard stand today so you can enjoy time with your family. And by serving you, I am blessed.”
I stood right there on the edge of that lagoon that day, tears welling up in my eyes, knowing God had just spoken to me through Hollywood. He had answered that prayer of just a few hours earlier. He had said to me.... “Darla....you are looking at everything in your life like a have to. These aren’t have-tos....these are get-tos! You get to serve your family each and every day and by serving them you are serving me.”
I was reminded of Colossians 3:23 which says, “Whatever (the laundry, the floors, the homework help) you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men (your family), since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
That experience and that verse have changed not only my attitude, but my life. I do “get to” serve my family.....the husband and the children that God gave me. And by serving them, I am serving Him.
I hope you enjoyed hearing her story.
Cammie Moise