Is That Really Important?

How many songs have been written about the passage of time? I can think of so many lyrics that tell us about the realization that hits us all eventually in life, hopefully sooner than later. The truth is time passes quickly and once an hour, a day a week has already passed, we never get it back. Time just keeps moving until there is no more. One of the best quotes I ever heard about the way we move through life just trying to move on to the next thing was from one of my favorite TV shows, The Office.

For me, the proof of time passing so quickly is in two people I love, and it brings me to tears at times. My parents have grown old as I was aging faster than I realized. But sometimes with age in this broken world comes disease that speeds along the process even more. In the last 5 years, I have seen my mom age more than 25 year in her brain and her body. I never know how much time we have left together these days, but I hope it's enough for her to find out more about all the good things God is going to unfold for Lucas and our family. And Lucas, my son. Oh how the birthdays have flown by! I remember the moment they laid him on my chest in the hospital and understanding the feeling people talked about of the great pain you just endured melting away. I remember being filled such overwhelming gratitude at the sight of him like it was yesterday. But this year my baby will be ten years old.

So these facts have got me thinking about how we all have things we do that might not be the best use of our time, and we all claim that we are too busy for so many things. Too busy to take care of our health. Too busy for our families and to spend any time with friends. Too busy to see that loved one who is sick. Too busy to take a vacation. Too busy for church or any volunteer work. Too busy to send a note or make a phone call that lets someone know you still care and you still think about them. 

This morning, I heard Joyce Meyer say that "What you spend your time and money on is what is important to you." She spoke about the importance of spending time with God every day and if we don't do that, we can never be prepared for the world around us and the challenges we face. But even though that time spent with God will benefit us, the more frightening thing is how easily we might choose to say we just don't have the time. I will not go a day without at least turning my attention the the Word and to prayer for a few minutes. I have learned how stupid it is of me to decline my opportunity to approach the Creator of the universe freely with whatever is on my mind. I want to thank Him daily for making that possible through Christ. It's a gift to spend time with God and that time will always be restored to use throughout the day. His strength gives us what we need for the work that is ours to do. 

I wrote in another post that my other non-negotiable daily activity is to workout at least 10 to 25 minutes. Most of the workouts I have are about 30 minutes long. That is another investment of my time that is repaid to me 100 times over. I am more capable of handling life because I do it. It's not a waste of precious time. It's the way to get the most out of the precious time you have. 

So with the rest of what we choose to do or not do in life, I think we need to ask the question, is that really important? Yes, we have to work, but do we have to work so much that we can't be there for our families? Do we have to do so many things that we can't just have some white space in our schedule to enjoy life with the people we love? Is there a way that we can spend just a little of our time that will impact someone else? That is what I think is most important. It's people who matter. Don't be too busy for that.