“too” — a tiny word carrying a lot of weight. A superlative adverb of sorts indicating a higher degree, and excessive amount, a little more than before. Ironically, as a child, I always remembered how to spell this form of the word because it had an extra “o” — ya know, the overachiever of the homophone.

And just like that little word, I “too” can become an overachiever by doing too much too often, becoming too busy too fast, and before I know it, I “too” am wearing overachievement like it’s some badge of honor. I’m learning, though, if not worn properly, it really just covers up the deeper issues of pride and perfection.

I saw a post circulating on social media. You may have seen it, too. It was an image of a letterboard. On the letterboard was a prayer, but the only words that were recognizable were “Dear God,” at the beginning, and “Amen,” at the end. The middle of the prayer consisted of all the other letters just being spilled out and mixed together — all jumbled up. This image and the message it (ironically) so clearly communicates likely resonates with all of us at times, especially when we may be battling the terrible toos!

When I’m too busy, too stressed, too this, or too that, my natural response is initially to double down, which usually leads to meltdown, and eventually and inevitably leads to shutdown.

In my world, it can manifest as writer’s block, creative constipation that leads to verbal vomiting. No matter how you say it (or not say it if the words will not come to express it), it’s a frustrating feeling for a person who is rarely short on words.

And I want to do more than just whip words out, I want to wield them well. My words just get mixed up when they aren’t filtered through His Word, and they can’t be filtered through His Word, if I’m not spending time in His Word daily, because I can’t spend time in His Word daily when my daily schedule has me doing way too much!

Jumbled letters and mixed up words (for me) are indicators of a jumbled life and mixed up priorities. They scream at me like a bad case of the “terrible toos.”

The saying “too many irons in the fire” dates back to the 1600s when a blacksmith would keep irons in the fire while he worked shaping them into what they needed to be. If there were too many irons in the fire, the fire would get too hot and the blacksmith would be too busy to keep up with the work before the irons would melt and disintegrate in the intense heat. So, what once was well on its way to becoming something beautiful burns out and burns up before beauty is beheld.

I don’t know about you, but I can tell very quickly when I have too many irons in the fire. The overachieving makes me underproductive, and doubling down leads to meltdown.

Too many irons in the fire. Too many letters on a board. Too many or too much really equals too little and not enough. We are overloading our schedules, our lists, and our lives without undergirding any of it with prayer.

Just like a toddler with a bad case of the terrible twos needs correction, this momma with a bad case of the terrible “toos” needs to heed some correction, too!

“It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” ~ Psalms‬ ‭127:2‬