Balance is hard!

I work out just about every day. Usually about once each week I take classes at the Y to help motivate the workouts the remainder of the week. I can handle most of the strength and endurance exercises. Balance, however, is a different story. Balance is hard!

We're finishing up our first year here in the Minneapolis area. I have been reminded as this school year comes to a close how hard it is to achieve balance when you have two adults and three children living together. Our oldest loves it here. She has found her niche in a huge school (bigger than the entire town we used to live in) and has made so many friends that I can't keep track of all of them. Her grades are outstanding, her drive and ambition frightening. She talks to other kids about her faith and is something of a mentor to many of her classmates. It has been a dramatic turnaround.

Middle child has always been the outgoing, contented child. This move has had a different affect on her. Her grades and study habits have definitely gotten better, which is good since middle school is calling her for next school year. However, she doesn't really have any "out-of-school" friends, which is a little disturbing for the parents. She has always had so many visitors over and it is a little painful for us to see her lonely. There are no kids in our church who are her age and are willing to be friends with her. She is still her sweet, if growing toward adolescence, self, but there is something a little hollow in her smile these days.

Youngest has had to adjust to a chaotic classroom with some pretty tough kids and an inexperienced teacher. He is making friends on our block now and that seems to help. I worry that he'll be a crowd-follower throughout his growing up years and that we'll have to walk through some tough times with him. I think he would rather be back in a small town, but he is adjusting to city life.

Carol hides her feelings about the situation. When things are tense at the church (more often than not), she is ready to throw the whole thing over and move onto other things. She prefers the quiet, country feel of a small town but seems to like some of the amenities (museums, parks, cultural opportunities) of the city.

I enjoy this area. I love the biking trails, the Y, having professional sports right down the street (15 minutes to the Metrodome for a Twins game), coffee shops, traffic and the educational institutions nearby. I struggle so badly with the pastor role in a small, local church, but love the cross-cultural ministry opportunities offered in my interaction with pastors and leaders in North Minneapolis and throughout the metro. I often think God has moved me here to launch me into something bigger, better designed for who I am.

So, how do we keep five distinct individuals happy and satisfied? It is a question for which I don't really have an answer right now. As I said before, balance is hard.