"Time... why you punish me? Like a wave bashing into the shore, you wash away my dreams..... Time is wasting. Time is walking. You ain't no friend of mine." -Hootie and the Blowfish
Darius Rucker sings about time so perfectly in his song. Where does the time go? I personally sometimes feel there are not enough hours in a day or days in a week. So much that I would like to accomplish, yet at the end of the week my to-do list is not completely checked off and my dreams of having a paper full of checks has faded into the reality of another day. Between work, home, family, friends, conferences, and deadlines, I sometimes feel like a piece of string that has become unraveled and stretched to its thinnest... Hanging on the last thread....
Then I start questioning how did I get to this point? What did I spend too much time doing? I really should not have taken that nap or ran in TJ Maxx. What was I thinking? Do I really feel rested because I napped for 45 minutes? Did I need that pair of shoes from TJ Maxx. This is when I start thinking about my values and did this task leave me feeling productive, wise, and the best use of my time.
Currently, I am participating in a leadership program and one of the activities asked us to write down the four most important things in our life. After writing down those four things on separate pieces of paper, we had to throw one away and then another, and another until we were left with just one piece of paper. What was on my last piece of paper? Faith.
However, I will be the first to admit that sometimes those other three items I had written on the pieces of paper come first. God is always there so I will make time for him this afternoon or tomorrow. This leaves me feeling unfulfilled. Most days my mornings start with the daily devotion on the proverbs31 site; however, if the dogs do not cooperate or I hit snooze too many times I am left in a rush and the devotion is put off until lunch. On these days my mornings seem to be so out of whack.
One of my goals for 2015 was to wake up earlier so in the mornings I don't feel as rushed. I will have time to seek God's word through the daily devotion in the morning in addition to packing my lunch, playing with my fur babies, and getting ready mentally for the day.
Waking up 30 minutes earlier is not going to impact my sleep hours, but could make me ready for the day and all that God has in store for me. The feeling of being rushed leads me to stress and stress to panic. The normally happy Joy is left hanging on a thread because time has gotten in the way or should I say away. Stress and panic are "unwise" characteristics and to become good time managers with faith, we must commit to give a portion of our day to His plan. In the book the "Good and Beautiful God" it challenges readers to walk in silence and take in all of the surroundings that God created. Your faith time isn't necessarily sitting at a desk studying the Bible, but may simply be talking to God as you are walking to work or having a Phil Robertson moment in the woods where peace is everywhere.
Think about YOUR four most important things and from that point plan your days so that those most important things take top priority in your free time. Surrounding yourself with those things of importance will make your days brighter and you a wiser person. Tomorrow I will not hit snooze 3 times :)
"So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." -Psalm 90:12
Go become wise and lead with a heart full of wisdom. Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!
Faith... Patience... Love.... and joy