All the Time in the World

Picture courtesy of Life123

 Time.  We humans are so curious about time.  The Western world (especially those of us in America) is particularly obsessed with time.  We get in over our heads in pretty much every single area of our lives and there's never enough time to do all the things we plan to.  We women are daughters, friends, sisters, mothers, girlfriends, wives, coworkers, bosses, employees.  And that's all before 9 am!  We are overbooked, overworked, over-scheduled, and overwhelmed.  

This morning, instead of quickly deleting it to minimize the number of emails in my inbox, I actually took a minute (shocking!) to read my daily Girlfriends in God devotional and had to laugh.  Here's a snippet for you to read:

Okay. It's Sunday morning and you are frantically trying to get ready for church. You somehow managed to set your alarm for PM instead of AM and you are running late. No time for breakfast – which is just as well since you did not have time to go to the grocery store and the only thing in your refrigerator is an almost empty jar of Mayonnaise and a block of molded cheese. Your daughter throws a tantrum because she is not about to wear any of the "dorky" clothes hanging in her closet. Your son is actually wearing his dorky clothes, but he got bored waiting on everyone else to get ready and headed outside to play in the puddles created from last night's storm. It was the perfect opportunity to see if his new shoes really were waterproof like the salesman said. His clothes are now caked in mud, the shoes are definitely not waterproof and he is yelling for help. "Check the dirty clothes basket" you yell back. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Your husband, oblivious to the chaos around him, is sitting at the kitchen table, reading the newspaper and drinking his coffee. When he announces that it is time for everyone to get in the car or you will be late for church, your last and completely frazzled nerve snaps. "Why do I have to do everything on Sunday morning – and every other morning for that matter?" you demand. "I have one morning a week that I can relax and have a few minutes to myself," he snaps back. Great! One more thing for your ever growing list of "things we need to work on in our marriage." Whatever! You don't have time to process that information because everyone is finally in the car and ready to go.

Your husband decides to drive the speed limit for once in his life which means you are going to be late – and you hate being late. You could cut the tension in the car with a knife, but when you reach the holy asphalt of the church parking lot, you smile and nod as people greet you with, "Good morning! How are you?" But they don't really want to know, and you don't really want them to know. "Great! Everything is just great!" you answer to no one in particular. 

(Read the rest HERE)

The devotional focused on the idea of transparency and our ability to be transparent within the community of believers.  However,what struck me was how much I identify with this writer even though I don't even have half of the responsibilities she has!  I don't have kids, my "house" is exactly one and a half rooms large (should be easy cleaning right?), I only need to shop for my husband and me, and heck, my church service is in the evenings, giving me plenty of time all day to take care of business, right?  I should have no trouble with managing my time! 

There's an African saying I recall hearing a few years ago that has stuck with me: "You Westerners have all the watches in the world, but we Africans have all the time."  I think they're on to something... 

While I haven't had the chance to visit much of Africa yet (fingers crossed!), I've been able to get to a few North African countries.  Over there, there's a common Arabic saying, "Bukra, inshallah," which translates to "Tomorrow, God willing."  This simple phrase is thrown around by many a professional man and woman, from professors who don't mind that your research paper is late, to doctors who promised they'll take a look at your weird illness tomorrow, to cafe owners closing down early just because who hope you'll come back tomorrow.  

As a Western visitor, I grew to hate that phrase.  I hope you can empathize.  When I want things done, I want them done TODAY.  I want them checked off my list and I don't want to think about them again.  But what I  grew to love was the ease with which these professors, doctors, and shop owners lived.  They'd take the time to sit and have tea with a friend for hours upon hours.  When they spoke to others, whether friends or strangers, they weren't constantly checking their phones for the time or rushing off to their next appointments.  During my time there, I felt appreciated, and their lives seemed somehow fuller than mine, though I might be able to show off a longer listed of checked off "To Dos."

I think there's some wisdom to be gleaned from a slower lifestyle.  The Bible teaches us that we are not the masters of time and how we spend the brief time that we're given does matter.  Following are some suggestions for how to spend time wisely:

Colossians 4:5-6
Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Make the most of every opportunity.  That means every single conversation or possible conversation should be appreciated and embraced.  In our haste, let's not take out our stress and anxiety on others.  Let's ask questions that really matter, and really listen when others speak.

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Psalm 39:4-5
Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere hand's breadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man's life is but a breath.

Our lives are short.  I often forget that.  I live with my thoughts, my desires, my dreams, my past, my present, my future every day, and I often think that this life will continue forever.  Let's stop putting off really living before our brief breath of a life is complete. 

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James 4:13-17
Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.

Stop living in the future in the present.  At first glance, this makes NO sense.  Let me explain... I am guilty of doing this ALL THE TIME.  Every single time I start something new, move to a new city, begin a new season of life, start a new job...I immediately begin planning and dreaming about what's next.  Instead of resting contentedly in my present circumstances, I plan and dream and plan and dream some more.  My mind is constantly in the future while my body is in the present, and I know I'm not the only one guilty of this.  STOP.  Learn to be content in all circumstances.  This afternoon, this evening, tomorrow... none of those is promised to us.  Let us give thanks, live slowly, and love with big hearts today.

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Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to write my To-Do list for the day.  Old habits die hard.