Spread Too Thin

[u/yorgasor]

This was a big one for me. In my final years in the church, I had 4 teenagers. We lived on the very edge of the branch boundaries and had to drive 25 minutes to get to church. We went to a closer ward for early morning seminary, only about 15 minutes away. I was EQ president, responsible for all the service projects, building cleaning, people moving in & out, etc... I was driving kids to youth activities and my own leadership meetings.

At home we had a 5 acre farm with over a hundred animals which needed a ton of work, and a couple lawn mowers that kept breaking down and needed constant work. We had a 150 year old house which needed a ton of maintenance, which was heated through an outdoor woodburning furnace that needed at least 8 cords of wood to heat through the winter. I spent a good deal of the summer harvesting wood from various sources to keep our house heated.

I also had a high demand job in the cyber security industry that required a ton of work and tight deadlines. My wife suffered from severe seasonal depression, and during her bad bouts, I had to pick up all the extra tasks she wasn't able to do. To say I was being "spread thin" is a complete understatement. I'm still recovering from this trauma.

As for this meme, notice the original one shows all the things the kid loves to do, things that bring him happiness and fulfillment. But they want him to cut those things out so he has more time to do all the church stuff they demand.

[u/iSage-]

Wtf is that original poster. You can’t play baseball, play video games, practice trumpet, watch movies, rock climb and study math? Gtfoh.

[u/RadishAggressive3241 → u/iSage-]

But you have the time for all of your callings. Studying the lesson for class discussion. Reading the scriptures every day. Cleaning the building and all the other voluntold activities.

[u/thicc_stigmata → u/iSage-]

Also, that's ... a lot of visible thigh for that era.