Time Is On My Side
If you are one of the half dozen or so listeners (by the way-thank you for hanging in there with
me!) you may have noticed the last several weeks have been sporadic in content. I've been hit
and miss because of a schedule change that I had somewhat anticipated, but when the
potentiality smacked up against actual reality, I realized I had underestimated, at least initially,
how my time would be affected.
That sounds a little more convoluted than I planned. :) I have known since late spring that I
would become a teaching leader for a local chapter of an international bible study organization,
and while I sorta had an idea how much time it would take, doing the preparation for my role
each week has taken more time and energy than I estimated. The old adage "bitten off more
than you can chew" comes to mind.
As I whined to my daughter about lack of time and all the things that weren't getting done, she,
always wiser than her years and with the radical candor only available to daughters, said,
"Mom, you're gonna have to let something go. Pick!" :)
But I'm stubborn. I shared with a client this week that perhaps for the first time in my life I feel
like I'm operating in all my gifts. Not well, not great, yet, but that satisfaction factor is right
there, and I don't want to let anything go just yet, notwithstanding my daughter's wise
admonition.
Upon my pastor's recommendation, I've been reading Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald
Sanders, and he devotes an entire chapter toward the Leader and Time. Sanders says this:
Minutes and hours wisely used translate into an abundant life. On one occasion when
Michelangelo was pressing himself to finish a work on deadline, someone warned him,
'This may cost your life!' He replied, 'What else is life for?'
Hours and days will surely pass, but we can direct them purposefully and productively.
Philosopher William James affirmed that the best use of one's life is to spend it for
something that will outlast it. Life's value is not its duration but its donation-not how
long we live but how fully and how well.
One of my favorite passages in Scripture is Ephesians 5:15-17: "Be very careful, then how you
live-not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are
evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is."
In the King James Version, verse 16 says "redeeming the time," and in Spiritual Leadership,
Sanders says Paul is "treating time like purchasing power." Other translations of the passage
render it "buy up the opportunities." "Herein," says Sanders, "lies the importance of a carefully
planned life: 'If we progress in the economy of time, we are learning to live. If we fail here, we
fail everywhere.'"
How do we "buy up the opportunities"? I think the first step is to notice where we're selling
them! Here's an example from my squirrel brain (which, in the observation of my astute
daughter, again, she classifies as ADHD). As I'm writing this podcast about time, I think of the
song "Time Is On My Side" and, wondering if my memory is accurate, I google. Yes, it was
performed by the Rolling Stones, and Oh! By the way, it's been used in dozens of movies,
including Fallen starting Denzel Washington. I wonder who else was in that? Casey Kasem,
who did America's Top 40 broadcast back in the day. He died in 2014, there were lawsuits
between his children from a first marriage and their stepmom, I think his voice was kinda nasal,
and I get more nasally in the fall, and I wonder what causes that, and did you know there's a
rhinoplasty ointment to keep your nostrils moist, and I wonder if Walmart has some, and did I
remember to put hamburger buns and spring mix salad in my shopping cart? I should probably
blow my nose right now because it feels kinda scabby.
And... there goes an hour of my time. And my daughter's words, "You're gonna have to let
something go..." maybe it's not the podcast, or my coaching clients, or my Sunday School class,
but how I employ what in Spiritual Leadership Sanders calls surplus hours. "The way we
employ surplus hours," he writes, "after provision has been made for work, meals, and sleep,
will determine if we develop into mediocre or powerful people."
Ephesians 5:15-17 in the New Living Translations says this: "So be careful how you live. Don't
live like fools, but like those who are wise. 16 Make the most of every opportunity in these evil
days. 17 Don't act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do."
Don't act thoughtlessly is a great way to describe the holes I fall into with nmyy time...just like
the hour I spent-remember we are "buying up opportunities-going down a rabbit hole of
time. 1st step is mindfulness about the clock tick-tick-ticking away, being present enough in the
moment to realize that we are spending a piece of our life on things that don't matter.
Just over 14 years ago, I spent time writing a blog called "Cheaper than Therapy Quilting." I
was then an avid quilter, working on a quilt project nearly every day. Listen to what I mused
then:
"Why do you quilt?"
As I sit in dentist's or doctor's offices, or wait on my boys for their Boot Camps and races and
what not, I usually bring something to work on -- right now it's either Circuit Rider applique
blocks or my English Paper Piecing Tumbling Blocks. People are always admiring and say
they "could never..." It gets me thinking. Why do I quilt?
I was asking myself this question as I waited on Sam to finish his drum lessons. Sam has
wanted to drum since he was knee-high to a grasshopper! :-D Finally we are able to get him
going, and it's part of his curriculum as we homeschool. A class in some kind of
performance/arts is a requirement for graduation in our state, so we can follow Sam's muse.
Listening to my 16 year old son blather on (!so cool when kids are excited about something and
want to tell you every single infinitesimal detail, huh!? :-D) about his lessons and their
difficulty and his excitement about overcoming the challenges, it occurred to me that I quilt for
the same reasons that I homeschool.
I want to pour my life into something that lasts beyond me.
Deciding on curriculum, and tutors (where needed -- Sam is learning drums and Spanish and
chemistry from better equipped teachers than I!), and activities (youth group at church, Boot
Camp, athletics, music) are all part of the fabric and design of my children's educations.
And they are unique just as each quilt I make is unique. Each requires different colors or
patterns or skills. Each is its own work of art. Each brings me joy beyond just the making.
Homeschooling is an investment in something -- in someone(s), my daughter and my sons as
they become caring, responsible individuals, critical thinkers, patriots, statesmen and women,
followers of Christ -- that has potential to impact the world. And my quilts (beyond preserving
my sanity!)? -- if only to make the world a little prettier, a little more comfortable, a little more
comforting -- they have an impact, too.
Ephesians 5:15-16 says "Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily
and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people), making
the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil." (Amplified
Version)
Investing in my children (and, yes, I think, in my quilts, too! :-D) is a way for me to "live
purposefully" and "buy up each opportunity" in these evil days. It's not particularly dramatic or
noteworthy, but in our way we are making a difference. When I am long gone, my kids will
continue to change the world (and my quilts will be there to bless and comfort them and,
hopefully, any generations that follow!) because I invested in them now.
And only Heaven will reveal how wide and how far their impact will be felt. I can't wait to see!
Just a few months after that blog post, our precious Sam went home to Jesus. I look back at how
I invested my time with him, and thank God that I spent those days in service to God and my
family and my son... precious days that I'd have missed had I spent my time differently. This
isn't to say that you should drop everything and homeschool your kids! I think that is a calling
from God, and if He calls then you obey it.
I'm also not saying that every moment should be filled with incessant productivity. God also
calls us to rest, to give our bodies and minds time to recover. That healthy balance of work and
productivity and goal-getting along with rest, nutrition, and spending time in worship, prayer,
and with loved ones, net a beautiful life, abundance, just as Jesus promised.
But I am saying that time has a way of revealing how we spent her. My scrolling and
thoughtless use of time reaps a harvest of weight gain, joint aches, brain fog, and unreached
goals. My intentional, purposeful use of time nets me satisfaction and the assurance that my
investment will reap a reward of "well done, faithful steward."
What does your time portfolio look like? How are you wisely investing this limited resource?
On advice from counsel (my candid daughter), I'm making adjustments. Starting next week,
Talk & Pray for Life and Business will drop on Thursday mornings instead of Tuesdays. My
new work as a Teaching Leader has Tuesday and Wednesday deadlines, so it makes sense to
push the podcast into later in the week. Likewise, my coaching client schedules will be shifted
to Tue-Thur afternoons. This gives me both creative and rest time Fri-Mon, with pockets of
time for other irons-in-the-fire like paying bills and cleaning up my kitchen!
And I'm looking at the coming months with an eye toward the best use of time for the
Masterminds I feel God leading me to write. If I'm wise, there'll be time enough for all that I
feel led to do.
We'll see how it goes. Meanwhile, I'm listening to what God says about my schedule. I want to
use up every gift He's given me. Time is one of the most important ones!
Father,
You are worthy of praise and gratitude for ALL You have given me, most importantly time.
Time is LIFE! And I want to spend my life in a way that honors You and hallows Your Name.
Help me be mindful of how my time is being spent. Lord, even Jesus took time to be alone, to
rest, to connect with you. If He needed that, I know that I do, too, even more. Teach me to be
unhurried, yet productive. Open to Divine interruptions, but wisely planning the time I've been
given. I pray that I am a good steward of the life and time You've allotted for me. My heart's
desire, Father, is Your approval, Your pleasure, and having those, I know my life will have all
the abundance Jesus promised. You are good, and I love the time You have blessed me with.
Lead me to spend my days making the most of every opportunity.
In Jesus's name, Amen.
I've put the link to the original blog post I referenced in the Show notes. Some of those old blog
posts are rich with humor and fun observations about homeschooling, our small sorta-farm, our
time while my husband was deployed. Some of the later posts work through my grief with
Sam's homegoing. It's hard to believe they were written nearly 15 years ago.
I'm also planning-taking my daughter's advice, of course-the Masterminds and Events that
are coming up over the next year. Wanna check out what's in the works? The link will also be
in the show notes.
