I sat on the couch. Weary.

It had been one of those days. 

The morning was spent taking kids to school, taking the littlest to the park, picking up groceries (curbside, thank you Jesus) and unloading them (can they not follow us home?), two loads of laundry, and finally getting around to washing the mountain of dirty dishes in the sink.

The afternoon consisted of picking up kids, picking up toys, picking up pizza (#cantdoeverything), and picking up babies to lay their tired bones in bed.

I looked up at the calendar to see I had a couple of deadlines fast approaching, a field trip to chaperone, life group and ballet practices and birthday parties and WHERE DID DECEMBER GO? I looked over at the sink to see it was full, again. These kids have got to stop eating. 

I walked into my room only to find a pile of clean clothes glaring at me. I turned right back around and headed back to the living room, feeling as though I could hear the wrinkles settling in from across the house.

There aren’t enough hours in the day, I whispered to myself.

And then I heard a voice in my head. It wasn’t God, not exactly, but someone He’d once put in my path.

A few years ago, I’d gone to a Bible study where a lady had spoken on rest and the Sabbath. 

“God gave us the perfect number of hours in a day, the exact number we need,” she said, “If it feels like there aren’t enough, I promise he didn’t screw up. It’s not His fault. It’s yours. So stop complaining, and start prioritizing.”

God gave us 24 hours. No more, no less. If we’re overwhelmed by all that needs to be done in that time frame, there are two possibilities:

We’re not asking for His daily bread.

We’re trying to do everything under our own power. We’re muscling and white-gripping and man-handling all our obligations because we are fiercely independent and capable. We don’t need anyone. Including God.

We’re doing too much.

We can’t fit everything in. We are drained at the end of every day and have nothing left in our tanks. But we don’t want to let anyone down, and we can’t say no, because they need us. 

You know who needs you? 

Your husband. He needs you to look him in the eye, to sit on the couch with him in the evenings, to have a real-life conversation with him, to lay next to him at night.

Your kids. They need you to sit down for dinner, to laugh with them, to read them a book, to ask them how their day was, to not feel rushed, to take them on a date.

You. You need you to slow down, to take a long, hot bath, to read at least one chapter of a book, to enjoy moments as they happen and stop looking to the next, to pause, to be quiet, to say no.

God gave us exactly 24 hours in a day. He didn’t make a mistake. He’s not looking back and wishing he’d given us more. He’s not sitting up there thinking, “Man, I didn’t realize they were going to do so much stuff. I should have allowed them more time to be so awesome.”

His ways are perfect.

Those 24 hours are perfect, the exact amount you need.

So if you’re finding that you need more, it’s probably time to make some changes.

Because the day isn’t going to get any longer anytime soon.