Makin' a Move for Margin

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Athens, we love you ! --- taken shortly after our move !

I am not usually a sentimental person, but this past week I have been a little more reflective --- and grateful for decisions of the past.  
You see approximately 6 years ago Brad and I took a trip (one that he had won by chasing trophies in the corporate world) and we had 4 consecutive days to talk - to evaluate - to dream.  At that time, we had a 5 y/o and 1 y/o - both working intense full-time jobs - preparing to start paying private school tuition for the next 18 years  - living in a dreamy house (may still be my favorite floor plan ever !) So, these 4 days were an exception as we normally didn't have 60 consecutive SECONDS to talk. Brad was killin' it - hitting every mark at work - climbing the corporate ladder - he was promised promotion --- 
We had it together - except for when we didn't!  LOL - you know what I mean.
Anyways, during these 4 days, we truly asked each other some hard questions -  How are YOU holding up?  How are WE doing - as a couple, as parents, as individuals, etc. ? 
And the unanimous answer ...
We were TIRED - we missed seeing each other - missed seeing our boys - didn't feel connected in our jobs - We at least agreed that we were missing ALOT.  We were missing MARGIN - and desperately wanted it - 

By "margin" - I mean the SPACE BETWEEN the "absolutes" - like attending school, work, our needs - and the " I should" or "we want to" - the sports, financial choices, the volunteer opportunities, etc

First, is acknowledgement of the problem, right? Next , What ya gonna do about it ? 
We are no longer children who can only tag along to where ever our parents drag us - we are not just passive recipients of someone else's desires or schedules.  We can make changes.  We can say "no" - really we can! We can lay activities down.  We can walk away from a job. We can make a move. 

So, for the Broxton family of 4, we prayed and made our desire for margin known to God. We wanted to flourish - to thrive..

Now, 6 years later- we sold our dreamy house that no one said would sell ( remember housing market 6 yrs ago) - we cut back our working hours - we desired for one of us to greet the boys each day off the bus - we traded in new cars - drove older cars.  We paid down debt for financial margin (which i the gateway for ALL other types of margin) - and in turn, we created space for our family and ourselves. You gotta have space to grow - to stretch - to bloom - to be your BEST self. 

I hope and pray this is where you find yourself and your family - with margin and breathing room in your daily schedule and life.  I am beyond thankful for our past decisions - and we have been given "immeasurably more" in the margin by our Heavenly Father.  

So, if you're not living within healthy boundaries, why not ? Are you getting self-worth from "busyness"?  Do the quiet and still moments take more effort ? I am not sure where your limits are - but you know where you need margin. But I DO KNOW - you gotta MOVE to get margin - not like sell your house (or in our case , yes) - but you gotta take an active role to gain space - 
Margin will NOT find you -- get after it !

Let God bless you in the space !