Learning Along The Way

30 Days of Giving #6: Time

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Gloucester Cathedral doorTime.

Have you ever thought of the myriad uses of this word?

Time out. (sports fans know this and parents use it for discipline)

Time is money.

Time to go.

Time crunch.

Not enough time.

Out of time.

Time sensitive material.

Time keeps on ticking.

There is pressure in the passing of time if you’re a to do list person, or a person dealing with challenging health issues, or a bride feeling the weight of the upcoming nuptials.

We are told to maximize time. Don’t waste time. Time is valuable. Time is a non-renewable resource.

With all these statements we could begin to feel the temptation to fill our time budget to the limit of the seconds of every day.  Many people do.  I know I did for years.

So when you come face to face with commands and invitations from God in the form of Be still; come away to a quiet place and rest, you might respond with I’ll rest when I die.

You might die because of no rest.

Time is a resource given to all of us in the same amount daily.  24 hours. And like money, you have the opportunity to budget the use of time.  Many of us use our time the same way, eat, work,  sleep and get up and do it all over again.  But what if you started to think about time as a gift that you can share rather than a list that must be checked?

What if you shared your time with others who would be refreshed by your presence or encouraged by you giving them time?

Children. Youth. Elderly. Developmentally disabled. Community groups. Church. The list goes on.

What if we began to see the time we have here as a way we can offer something back for all that we have been given?

You might want to tune me out or click away from this post.  I get that especially if you’re feeling the pinch of “not enough time” already.

But wait a second.

Think about how you are already giving time to others.  Sometimes we give because we feel obligated. It’s our job. But is it possible to think about what you already do from the shift of giving a gift rather than fulfilling an obligation?

Your presence at the dinner table, fully focused on those around it. Or your presence with a client. Or the cashier at the store. Your full attention, your attentive presence is a gift of time.

Slowing down, taking inventory, being present are all ways to spend the budget of time we’re given.  When we give an account of how we spent the time given us from birth to death what will be on your list?

What are you already doing that can encourage others? Please give us some ideas!

Rhythm of Life

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When I asked my husband, who is a trained percussionist, this question: How important is rhythm to being a percussionist? He looked at me with this quizzical expression, but he humored me and responded seriously, “Rhythm is essential.  You can’t be a successful percussionist without a good sense of rhythm.”  I pressed a little further: Can rhythm be learned or is it innate?  He said, “No one gets all the variations of rhythm without practice.  Rhythm takes practice.”

Rhythm provides the structure to music that all else in the piece is built upon.  Interestingly, what is true of music is true of our lives.

Our pastor uses the phrase, “Rhythm of life”.  I’ve pondered the meaning and implications of that phrase for awhile now.

Rhythms can vary.  Just like seasons.  But even in the repeating of the seasons there is rhythm and it is comforting to our souls.

Rhythm to your day, the regular habits of thought and action that turn your mind and heart toward God are what the phrase is about I think.

It’s a pattern but not a rigid pattern; not a legalistic way of going about your day. Although there are those individuals who are very disciplined and their structure does not vary even to the minute.  That’s not what I am talking about here.

Rhythm of life is more about the big ideas, elements, that fill your days.

Ironically we often move through our day driven by the clock, the external keeper of  rhythm rather than by an internal intention or rhythm.  Time and again I hear people say things like: ‘I just don’t know where the time goes’ or ‘I don’t have time for …’

We are all given 24 hours to steward.  What we do with the time is up to us.  Of course there are fixed and variable elements in our lives that must be attended to: people, work, sleep, food; but it is often the intangible elements that give us pause when they’re missing: time with God, creativity in some form, mental rest.

If you are feeling out of sorts or driven by the clock without a break, I encourage you to make an assessment of your days.  Write down how you spent your time at the end of the day.  Do that for three days.  Look at what fills your time.  Now comes the hard part.

Change.

If there are things in your day that don’t have to be there: tv watching, internet surfing, excessive texting or tweeting, excessive time on the phone; make some changes.  To make rhythm adjustments change has to happen.  To make room for the intangibles some tangibles have to go.

In Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus he tells them about change.  “These former ways of living, don’t work for you any longer.  Put those off.  Instead, put these on.” (the Message)

What are “these” that Paul was referring to?  What are the things on your list that don’t work for you any longer?

 

Is Change Happening?

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Do you wonder if change is happening?

You might be battling discouragement today.

Maybe when the new school year began you started (or tried to start) to make changes in your routine: getting up earlier, eating right, being on time places, not losing your temper, writing that thank you card, memorizing scripture, or even just reading the Bible; any one of these changes might be on your to do list.

You started your plan and it was going great!

But life happened today and the to do list didn’t get done.  Or maybe it’s the third day in a row that “life happened” and the to do list is buried under the mail.

The question is: do you give up?  Just quit because change is too hard and you don’t see it happening?

Or do you make a different choice?  The choice to persevere?

Steady Progress
Three years ago to honor my dad’s memory I wanted to make our backyard into a relaxing retreat area by installing a water feature.  Here’s what it looked like brand new:

The plants were little and it looked rather stark.  It wasn’t lush and verdant like I had imagined, partly because the cost to plant mature plants was way out of the question and partly because I am committed to the process of growth and I wanted to watch the yard change over time.

Little by little, when I wasn’t paying attention, change happened.  Now, this summer the fountain area looks like this:

My point is, don’t give up!  Little by little, when you push back against the tide of demands and make another choice to continue on your new routine, starting again, you will see change when you least expect to!

Sometimes when we’re the most discouraged, we do want to throw in the trowel, in gardener speak, and just quit.

I have one word for you: DON”T!

Keep going!  Start again!  Get support from friends or, contact a Coach!  Click over here to learn more about working with a Life Coach.

Change can happen.  Change takes time.  Give yourself grace and get support.

Using Time

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Had a really sweet time encouraging Moms yesterday at the MOPS group at B.F.C.C. in Alameda.  If you are in their area and need a Moms group, this is a new group so it would be easy to get plugged in.

What is MOPS?  If you’re not familiar check them out here.  If your season right now is a mom of preschoolers then get plugged into MOPS in your area.  Don’t have one?  Look into starting one!

Maybe you’re not in the season of having littles at home.  That’s not where I am anymore!  In fact I shared this photo of my newly married son reminding me and encouraging them that time is a fleeting thing!

Before you know it, the kids are grown up and out on their own!  Where did the time go?  How was that time with him spent?

It’s so good to be reminded to make the most of our time (Eph 5:16).  But what does that look like in each season of life? Are we supposed to be busy doing anything and everything that constitutes good works?  (Eph 2:10) Are we to be filling our time to the brim with well doing? (Gal 6:9)  Is doing doing doing what constitutes a life well lived?

No.  Not if all the doing squeezes out time for relationship.  You see, what matters are the things that last for eternity.  What are those things?

Souls.

So what matters most is your soul, your family members’, your friends’, your neighbors’, the homeless, the unborn, the disenfranchised, those of other countries and cultures.  People matter most.

What matters most is relationships.  Jesus modeled this for us as He walked here.  Time with the Father alone.  Time with others quietly. Time with others serving/working.  Time intentionally spent developing relationships.  Grace filled relationships.

Think about the two sisters Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42) .  Are you worried and bothered by so many things?  Or are you choosing the better part that will not be taken away from you?

I am not saying doing good things should be abandoned so that you can sit alone in silence: unless you are doing too many good things and you have no unobligated time to sit alone in silence for even 5 minutes!

Intentional time alone with God; intentional time with family, with friends, and then out to the world.  Making the most of your time looks differently in each season.  What does your time look like today? Where can adjust to make that time intentional?

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