2 Month Hiatus: Ivanka vs. Anne

These are the books on my nightstand.  Yes, that's Ivanka Trump in there.  But wait, there's Anne Voskamp in there too, and Michael Phelps and Timothy Keller...

It's happening again. 

Just when I finally think I can get my arms wrapped around balancing work and home, I get the notion that I can somehow be a super woman and do it all.  Like Ivanka Trump.  Or Anne Voskamp.  Two amazing women, in entirely different ways.

Perfect manager.  Doting wife.  Rockstar at the office.  Martha Stewart in the kitchen.  HGTV gal.  A real life "Apprentice." Community group, maybe highschool youth group, 20's group, hopeful junior college instructor, gym lifer, healthy eater...  The list goes on and on and on.

I want to do it all.

Somewhere inside I tell myself I can, I will, and I must-- be excellent at everything.  I envision everything I want and tell myself I won't have to sacrafice anything to get it.

Room mom (someday).  Soccer mom (someday).  Meal plans.  Clean house.  Bible studies.  Deep friendships.  Intimate marriage. God time. Blogging time.  Social time.  Family time.  Work time.  Growing career.  Busy days, filled with...

I've already talked about being busy.  Yet somehow, this struggle between managing my life, resting in the Lord and my career continues to surface and has been ever so prevalent over my 2 month hiatus.  I'm conflicted, and it shows... Even by what I've been reading.

Ivanka.  Here's a gal who's actually a rock solid business woman, indpendent of her last name.  She can work the sale and close a deal just like her father and she was one of the youngest executive VP's in the country for a major corporation a few years back.  She's got an impressive education and her work experience is totally legit.

She also works on the weekends and leaves for work 2 hours before her start time.  She's married to her job.

Anne.  She's a stay at home mom, mother of six and wife of a farmer.  I can't relate at all.  She's a woman who discovered the path to Eucharisteo, the table of thanksgiving.  A holy experience.  Each mundane task is received as a gift, each dish washed and laundry basket is tended to with a spirit of gratitude for the opportunity to give glory to the One who made and loves us.  I feel safe reading her words, humbled and completely out of place. 

She doesn't have a glamorous high rise in Trump tower in New York City.  She works weekends, nights, mornings, pretty much never gets a break but she's married to a farmer, not a job and her work is her family- whom she adores.  Grace, thanksgiving, joy.

I'll talk a bit more about this internal conflict tomorrow, but for now...

Ivanka vs. Anne... I'm certain that I don't have to choose one way over the other, but I'm not quite sure if I can have my cake and eat it too. 

How do you manage work and home?  What works best for you?  As I struggle to balance these things, I pray that God would lead my heart... And yours too :)