I have a whole list of blog posts already written but God keeps telling me that I need to write about what is going on now and not what was going on when I wrote the other posts. I want the “Mud Puddle” blog to be real, vulnerable, and what I am going through today, so I guess this is it for now.
God has been talking to me about stewardship and about something that is always going by, can’t be stopped, can never be added to and yet no one knows how much they have.
Time is a fairly recent thing, at least the way we view it today. Until the 1800’s time was something that was measured many different ways and even neighboring cities that had clock towers had their own time for their town.
Up until the invention of the clock, time was measured by the placement of the sun and most cultures didn’t even seem to have much need to measure it. It was more of a reference point than it was a precise measurement. That was until the Railroad.
The Railroad needed a way to move people with precision so, because of that, the Railroads got together and came up with Time Zones and all of the other items that we call normal today.
What’s interesting to me is that even though time has never changed, the way that it is viewed has dramatically changed, as always, some for the better and some for the worse.
When I was a kid we referred to things like quarter past or quarter till when asked the time. That was close enough for everyone I knew. However with the invention of the digital watch people began to refer to the exact time. Exact time has changed also. Many watches and other time pieces are connected with the official time keeping object somewhere that keeps the exact time down to the millisecond.
With the invention of cell phones now time is set by the cell phone companies in many ways.
All this is great but, as with all great things, I think it has also tarnished our view of time and that is what I want to talk about today because that is what God has been showing me lately.
With the precision works of today’s time I have become a very impatient person. For me it started with the microwave. Again, a great and amazing tool but it has taught me to be so impatient and now I expect things to be done so quickly.
I have become a 30 second person. I expect my plate to be hot and my coffee to be warmed and on and on but all the while knowing exactly how long it takes. Because of this I find myself measuring my days in seconds and minutes instead of hours and days.
This may seem like a great thing and in some ways it is. It has taught me to be a consumer of time, but it also has taught me to expect my way, and want it now as every good consumer does. Everything should be getting faster and easier, serving me better. It has caused me to get be irritated over a 5 minute delay and to check my calendar and phone constantly to see what time it is.
Something else I have realized is how much time I waste every day. I have realized how much time I spend doing nothing productive and instead spending my time on Facebook or staring at a computer screen.
My phone is the biggest time wasting device I have. I spend more time doing nothing on it than any other item.
This is how it goes. My chainsaw broke so I decided that I needed to find another one. I started looking on Craigslist, Ebay and Facebook for a chainsaw and God led me to one that I bought. However I still find myself looking at chainsaws and now new parts for the chainsaws I have. Why? I have no idea! I don’t need another chainsaw and the parts that I may need will be provided when I need them just like the chainsaw that I bought was. So the only motive for looking is that it somehow fills up my time.
The problem is that if it is not chainsaws it is Audi’s or whatever else my little mind wants to dream up. Instead of praying, reading my Bible or working on any one of the many projects I have that need to be done I spend time looking at and researching chainsaws.
The reality is that every day my kids get a little older and closer to moving out of the house. My relationship with the Lord needs to be strengthened along with the relationship with my wife. People around me go about their day feeling lonely and left out as I stare at a computer screen looking at chainsaws.
The truth is that there are so many things that I could be doing that are productive that I often just check out. I do it because sometimes I don’t have all the pieces in place to get started on a project or often times the things that God is asking me to do make me uncomfortable so I would rather stare at Audi A6’s and dream about how cool it would be to own one.
The problem with time is that I can’t get it back. When I choose to stare at a screen with anything on it I am also saying to the people around me that whatever I am doing is more important than they are. I find myself telling my kids “Just a minute” a lot more. I find myself being led to lust after things that I don’t need and dream about what it would be like to have them.
The problem with this time thing is, as I said, I won’t ever get those moments back! I will have forever lost the last second I was in and will have to decide at each moment whether what I am doing is worthy of spending the most precious thing on it. My Time!
I think this is going to change a few things in my life. I think I am going to continue to train myself to spend less time on things and spend more time on God and people. The truth is that God and people are the only things on this earth that are really worthy of my time anyway.
I am going to start putting my phone on the counter when I come in the house so that I am not tempted to constantly be looking at it and I am going to keep the computers out in the main parts of the house. Along with that, when someone comes and needs something I am going to choose to put down the computer, phone or other distraction and give my first attention to the person that is with me.
I am going to stop texting, messaging or answering emails without understanding that if I am doing it with someone else present it is interrupting and since I teach my children not to do it I had better not, either. I am no longer going to be carrying on 2 different conversations at once and pretend like I am paying attention fully to either one.
I am going to give people and myself grace when I feel like my time is being used whether it is traffic, waiting for an appointment or being in meetings. I am also going to be truthful with my time and be realistic about what I can accomplish in the time I have.
Most of all, I am going to spend my time on what is precious to me, my God, my family and those that God brings into my life! So if you comment on this post or send me an email or text, sorry if I don’t drop everything to answer. However, if you need an answer give me a call or stop by. I would much rather see and experience these moments with you in person instead of electronically anyway.
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