Over- or Under- Stretched?

I have often wondered if I was the ONLY girl in the whole world who owned a STRETCH ARMSTRONG. I wanted one from the time I saw it on the commercial on t.v. as a child. I thought it was a fascinating concept...a man who looked farely normal...somewhat muscular, but could be stretched in all directions. He could be pulled, contorted...

...until he looked like this...

...and I would pull, twist, turn, writhe...to stretch him as far as he would go! I even thought that at some point, he would never be able to bounce back. But...he always did. He always eventually returned to his original, natural state of "normal." He would look like he originally did...the stretching did not "appear" to have damaged to him in any way.

ONE DAY...[don't you love it when a story changes??]...yes, one day, I was in our basement playing with STRETCH. I had pulled, stretched...laughed and played. When I was finished, I layed him down on the concrete floor and ran off to something else that had grabbed my attention. When I returned at a later time to STRETCH, he hadn't completely returned back to his normal state. I was devestated. I showed my mom and she said that over time, because he had been stretched SO much, it had worn him out and he couldn't take the stretching anymore. His outer protective layer had cracked...he began leaking...and the inward parts came pouring out like a flood. STRETCH could no longer be used for his intended purpose.

Analogy anyone?
Feeling a little stretched?
A fair warning from my dear friend, STRETCH ARMSTRONG...

You may think you are invincible. You may think you have it all under control.

You may be under the false impression that you can do it all alone...be stretched in too many directions and continue to do it all well.

Well, my sister, my brother...my friend.
Don't wait until you crack like this old walkway...leading to unknown destinations, with unsure footing...unbalanced, uneven...broken.

...and the most meaningful parts of who you are lost to who you could have been.

Now, doesn't this walkway look much more balanced, peaceful, calm [looks like a great place to read, for those avid readers like me]...leading to rest, peace, joy, and a water source?

I am full-out focused at this particular time in my life on un-stretching myself...not living as the world would have me live - stretched in a zillion directions - but as Christ would have me live...resting in His arms, feeding on His Word, enjoying His peace, experiencing and sharing His joy...drinking from the Living Water every day.

And mostly, taking everyone I can with me to this place...