Balancing Act

I would like to own a scale like this one. I have different things in my home that have been owned by different people. I have my Pap's lantern on my mantel. I have a porcelain bird that belonged to my MeMaw. I have a ceramic army coffee mug owned by my PawPaw. I have a set of praying hands that belong to Dean's grandma. I have my Grandmother's watch. I have a wind chime that I bought when I was in TX for my uncle's funeral. I have a silver heart charm given to me by a boyfriend from long ago. There are other treasures that were given to me by family and friends from Michigan, North Carolina, Indiana, and Kansas City. They are just things, but when I look at them, I remember who gave them to me or how I came to have them. They mean something to me and I like being surrounded by items that belonged to people that I care about and want to remember.

I would like to have a scale to set on my mantel. I know it's a random thing to want, but I have my reason. It is because for quite some time I have had the idea of balance percolating in my brain. Life is all about balance. It never fails... when I am doing great at home, stuff at work seems to pile up. When I am working on my maintaining my blood sugar, I drink tons of caffeine. When I feel totally absorbed in church, God, bible study... I find I have times where I don't want to pick my bible up at all. The see-sawing back and forth really begins to wear on me and it starts to drag me down. I can never seem to BALANCE things.

God has a lot to say about balance and he mentions it many times in scripture. I have two favorite passages that I like to meditate on when my life seems out of balance.

1) Eccl 7:16-18 says "Do not be over righteous, neither be over wise- why destroy yourself? Do not be over wicked - and do not be a fool - why die before your time? It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes."

2) 1Cor. 6:12 says "Everything is permissible for me" but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me" but I will not be mastered by anything.

I want the scales as a daily reminder that life is a balancing act. There will be days when things will get out of balance, but with God's help, I will always find my way back to the center.