Back in August, I announced with glee that I was finally making the transition from part-time to full-time photographer! And that was true, but since then, I’ve actually been back at my office job in about three days per week helping them through a transitionary period. The steady income has been nice, but to be honest, it’s been a little rough. My plate has been too full of too many things… an job outside the home (thirty miles from my house), building my photography business, helping Josh manage Josh Staley Productions, volunteering at church, keeping our house slightly presentable, and maintaining a social life… I just couldn’t do it all. Can’t do it all.

On Thanksgiving, Americans pile their plates with turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, cranberry sauce (obviously the highlight of the meal), rolls (even more obviously the other highlight of the meal), sweet potatoes, corn, etc etc. The game is played by fitting as much food as possible on your Thanksgiving plate all at once, eating every bite, and then filling your plate again. If there’s even a tiny spot of holiday china peeking up at you amidst your turkey and gravy, then you must have forgotten something. One more scoop of Aunt Millie’s famous sweet potato casserole? Don’t mind if I do.

But isn’t this the game we play every day of our lives? We pile so much on our plate that everything runs together, and things fall of the edge. The cranberry sauce runs into our potatoes and turns them pink. That piece of turkey we so carefully picked form the platter is buried underneath all the stuffing.  The roll precariously placed on the edge falls to the floor. I’ve found that my small business is bleeding into my marriage, and my office life has pushed my ability to cook and clean consistently right off the edge. But God willing, this Wednesday will be my last day at my office job. I will wake up Thanksgiving morning thankful for my irreplaceable husband who loves me so well despite my failures, for a photography business that brings me joy with each click of the shutter, and for a God who preserves and sustains no matter what the outside circumstances look like.

Do you have too much on your plate? Are you having issues making everything fit, so the things that are most important to you are so crowded that they aren’t recognizable? Have you pushed things off the edge that you wish you could pick back up again? It’s not too late! Find your priorities, the things that sustain you long-term, that bring you joy, and pursue those better things. No amount of money or fame is worth sacrificing your family, friends, and passions. Pursue what matters, not that which is fleeting.