Possessions: Day 10

My most prized possession is my time.  It is the hardest thing to give, I can never get it back once it is gone, I can never get more of it during the day (regardless of how hard I work or how much I sell), and it is  more valuable than any material item I own. I want to be a good steward of what God has given me, and that includes my time. 

I am a planner. That is my personality; it has been for a long time.  I like to have a “plan” of how the day, week, month, vacation, date… fill in the blank… is going to go (ask my husband, it is one of his biggest pet peeves about me… he is a “fly by the seat of his pants” man). I will say that this is really only in my personal/family life.  I am pretty good about handling the unexpected in other situations fairly well (I taught special ed… you have to be or you learn to be very quickly :)), but in MY time, I want to know how it is going to go and what is going to get accomplished (I am also a list maker…love to check things off). This is why this 5-7-9 plan was going to be great. I was going to learn all these things that I had “planned” out. Well surprise, surprise that is not how God works.

This week, my time has not really been my own. Snot nosed kids (not brats… really snotty/runny noses), not feeling well me, unexpected/unplanned things that are happening that I can not control… and they are messing with my time.  

Our time on earth is so minuscule in the grand scheme of things. I want to spend my time on the things that are important, the things that will matter long after I am gone. Things like spending that quiet time alone with the Lord everyday. Not “bumping” His time today because there are so many things that need to be done. I want to be having meaningful conversations with my children and face-to-face, eyeball-to-eyeball interactions. Not shooing them out of the room so I can get an email sent or read an article on How to be a Better Parent.  I want to spend my time having good conversations and lovely, enjoyable moments with my husband… not “business” meetings where we discuss who has what kid and when, or how much money was spent on “that”, or what other obligations we have so we don’t overlap and there is someone here to tend to these little people that seem to be hanging out in our house. Or that lost soul that is seeking council… that is a hard one for me.  I want to spend quality time, not only WITH that person, but praying and seeking God’s wisdom on what to say to that person, but I don’t always make the time.  Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and a place for everything… and those things (the dishes, phone calls, emails, business meetings, bills, etc.) need to be done, but I am struggling with how to balance my time. I want to be a good steward of my most prized possession, my time, and I find it to be the hardest thing to do. 

This month is all about purging, and I thought it was strictly material things (that was the intent). But I think God has something way different planned. There will be lots and lots of material items leaving this house this month, that has not changed, but He is doing something in my heart that will last long after all of the “stuff” is gone.