I am the absolute very best at: quitting.

 

Has anyone ever told you, “Don’t give up!”? Or how about, “If at first you don’t succeed, try again!”? While I think that these are great ways to encourage people, I’m here to tell you: Ain’t Nothing Wrong With Quittin’ Either. I’ll explain, because you have to be careful quitting things. You have to time quitting just right. Too soon, and you didn’t give it a fair shot.

I recently made some candles for the wives in my small group at church. I turned to our trusty friend, Pinterest, to learn how to make them and what materials I would need. I was getting pretty excited. I started planning and even thinking that maybe I should make and sell candles for a living. (I know what your thinking. Slow down, Andrea. YOU HAVEN’T EVEN MADE ONE YET.) Too late, though. I was already planning out my Etsy shop, and thinking of a cute pun for my business name. (All I came up with was: Other Candles Don’t Hold a Candle to My Candles.) My dreams were growing bigger, and BIGGER. I was imagining all kinds of flavors and different color candles. But, now it finally was time to make the first batch. I’ll will be completely honest here: It was a fun little project, but I will not be opening up ‘Candles by Andrea’ anytime soon. It’s a lot of work, and super messy. Nope, I quit.

I am in the process of quitting how much I put into wondering if people think I am a good parent. I think we all carry a lot of worry about the type of person we are or the type of people we are raising. I have to quit it. I’m not going to lie, it is hard. I want people to think that I truly listen to what my kids are saying and don’t just reply with a “uh-huh”. Or that my oldest gets 3 meals a day that have all the major food groups in them. (Moment of honesty: sometimes we have popcorn for lunch…) I want people to see that I discipline from a calm place. I don’t always. I have actually told Lydia that if she was not going to listen to me, that I was going to chop her ears off because she wasn’t using them anyway. Not my most proudest moment as a parent, but after repeating yourself 4,700 times you stop being kind. Parenting is the hardest thing I have ever done. But, does it have to be? Who is making it hard? Me or the kids? I think by putting this pressure on myself to be the kind of parent Pinterest tells us to be, I am making it harder than it actually is. Now, I am just trying to teach my littles to be kind. Be a kind person, and seek Jesus. It is hard to stop caring about what people think, y’all, but I can do it. Please hold me to it.

I would LOVE to quit the gym. Give it the ol’ BYE FELICIA! However, here are two reasons why I have kept with it:

1. They watch my kids. (FOR TWO WHOLE HOURS)
2. I am tired of being fluffy. We have chocolate donuts to thank for the fluffiness.

Now, I was serious when I said you have to be careful quitting. Sometimes sticking with something (even when it is the worst) can help you in the long run. My parents (we will call them Tooter and LuLu) come to mind here. They are two of the most hard working people I have ever met. They recently moved from PA to be closer to me and my siblings. The job they left behind was very hard on them. Long hours, long commute, and just over all not good. (Seriously. Have a cup of coffee with them and let them tell you some stories of the “special” kind of people they had to work with.) Most people, myself included, would have said “peace out”. But, by sticking it out for a little bit they were able to put the pieces in place to make this move to Texas possible. So, if you can see the light at the end of the tunnel, if you know the hard work will be so worth it in the end, stick to it. Just remind yourself: If Tooter and LuLu can do it, then so can you! We are pullin’ for ya!

Remember that episode of Friends, where Joey tells Monica that her bathroom tiles are dingy? He assures her that her old tiles will “just come right up”. After picking a spot in the middle of the bathroom floor, Joey begins to pry a piece of the tile up. He is surprised to find out that all the tiles have been glued down. So he tells Monica:

Joey was all fired up to change out Monica’s floor tiles, until the job got harder than he thought it would be so, he quit. (In the end he does lay new tile in the bathroom. I didn’t want to leave you guys hanging.)(Also, watch Friends. I believe it is good for your soul.)

Okay-I just want you sweet, precious, little blog readers to know this: chase after the things that are important. Jesus, family, community, etc. But, if you need to quit something (which sometimes you do so you can pursue the important things), you can come join me over on the sidelines with the other fellow quitters.