I find myself in a particularly busy season of life. This is due, in large part, to an abundance of blessings. Three of those blessings are ages six, three, and five months. The other blessings are writing (for pay!) deadlines and a new home.

This week is crazy. We are going to be closing on that new home this week (I hope! I pray!), and not only have I never done this before, but I don’t deal well with “winging it.” Home closings, apparently, involve a lot of eleventh-hour facilitating, and I’m finding myself stretched in a far different way than I ever have been before.

I’m relying on other people–people I love, people who love me, but still, other people–to get a lot of the must-do things done.

In my perfect world, I’m self-sufficient. I’m able to battle life with my glowing sword and still get a full night’s sleep.

Real life, however, looks a little different than my perfect world, and I’m starting to realize that maybe what GOD has in mind is better than what SARAH has in mind.

I’m not the first–or the last–blogger to find myself suddenly needing a break (or a really quick solution!) to deal with my real life. In fact, this isn’t the first time this has happened to me.

So here’s how I deal with it:

1. I pray. A lot. No joke. It’s taken me a number of years to realize that this has to be my first response to chaos and stress. And even though blogging might seem like, well, nothing all that serious, but maybe that makes it even more important for me to turn to God.

2. Dip into my archives. I’ve been blogging a while, and sometimes, craziness just means I rerun something from my archives. An alternative to this is to post something easy, like a quote or a guest post (if there’s one waiting for me).

3. I work ahead. I do this a lot anyway, but I am even more conscientious of scheduling posts with plenty of time ahead when I know my offline life is going to be extra demanding.

4. Take a break. This always seems unthinkable at first, but–whaddaya know?–the internet doesn’t even notice when I’m gone for a few days or weeks! Who knew? (Lesson in humility anyone?)

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Sarah Reinhard, author of Welcome Baby Jesus: Advent & Christmas Reflections for Families, is a Catholic wife, mom, blogger, reader, and farm girl who can be found online at SnoringScholar.com.