I ran into a long-time friend the other day, one whom I haven’t seen in years. As we caught up, sharing with each other the various activities we were both involved with, I found myself both in awe and exhausted listening to everything she was doing.  

“Goodness,” I said. “You are so busy! How do you do it?” 

Quickly she cut me off with a smile that made me feel like she had a secret she was about to share. 

Leaning in she replied, “Oh no, I am not busy. I don’t use that word. After all, you can be busy and still do nothing of importance.” 

“So, if you aren’t busy, “I laughed, “What are you?”  

“Fruitful,” she answered back. “I’m fruitful.”  

For days my friend’s words have been churning in my mind. I’ll admit, I do use the word busy. A lot. I wear it like a badge almost, as if being busy gives me value and makes me important. But truth is, being busy doesn’t bring me joy. Rather, it gives me quite the opposite.  

In 1 Thessalonians 5:16 we are told to, “Always be joyful”. Is it wrong that too often my first response to this verse has been an eye roll? Life is hard, after all. And I don’t know about you, but there is no joy to be found while I’m busy folding laundry for a family of six. 

Unless perhaps, I swapped the word “busy” with “fruitful”. If by folding my family’s laundry, I am being fruitful, doing something to serve the people I love the most in this world, then maybe joy in those moments wouldn’t be so far-fetched. I’m going to try that out. 

I truly believe God wanted me to hear those words of advice from my friend. And perhaps you needed to hear them too. Daily, my schedule is full. I am a mom of four running an overseas ministry from inside my own home. Being busy is inevitable. But that busyness doesn’t have to be a burden. Rather, by seeing my schedule as opportunities to be fruitful, no matter how mundane the task, my busyness can become blessings that can give me great joy, always.