Every Activity Under Heaven

Since January I've been working full time at my job. I work 2 or so hours at our county office before going out to the school to finish up my work day. For those of you that don't know, I run a before & after school-care program for one of the local school districts. I went from six hours to eight hours a day. Not a big deal, right? Just two piddly hours.

Yeah. Right. I suddenly feel like I have no time.

This is feeling reminiscient of my previous post about making time for what is important. That post along with devotions and other blogs I've read have caused me to spend some time reflecting on how I view time. I want to manage my time, spend it will, save time by doing things efficiently, and I've come to hate feeling that I've wasted time. All of these are the same words I would use when talking about money. Time and money. Some people say time is money, and that may be true for lawyers or stock brokers but not for me. 

I've been creating pretty to-do lists to keep me motivated. I take time to decorate and illustrate my lists which sounds like procrastinating but I've noticed that the more I like the aesthetcs of something the more likely I am to stick with it. I've been thinking about re-organizing my house and re-structuring how things get done. I'm trying to come up with an efficient way to keep up with things. Housekeeping, paying & filing bills, and keeping track of things shouldn't be the daunting task it has somehow become. There should be a simple way to do things. I just need to find it.

I've read about creating rituals for daily things to make them meaningful instead of ordinary. My post on True Womanhood had me thinking of this in terms of housework. Seeing it as a rite of passage, beng indoctrinated into the club of True Women with every dish I wash. I also plan on making playlists of cleaning music, driving home from work music, and getting ready in the morning music. I want to create a morning ritual to prepare myself for the day--beyond the dash to get dressed and throw some make-up. I want to make the little things of everyday meaningful, even spiritual.

The Bible tells us to do everything without arguring or complaining, and that everything we do is (or shoud be) glorifying to Him. God cares about how I do what I do. I don't think He cares if I vacuum  up the puffs of doggy fur and toy-stuffing everyday, but He cares if I do it with a grudging spirit.

So, I think what I'm trying to say is this: by restructuring how I think about time, I'll be able to restructure how I use time, and my attitudes about how my time is spent will be restructured as a result. You might want to read that again. I did.

The first step is to re-focus my ideas of time. I realize in writing this that I think primarily of myself. What I need to do, what I want to do, what I think is important. I've got "I-trouble" (a song from a kids' program I was in as a very little girl, Angels Aware). What I need to realize is that God has given me this time to use as He directs. And I'm sure that will include much of the same things but I need to let Him make the call on when and how those things get done.

I have to empty my box of pre-conceived notions and let God decide what gets put back into the box. Throw away some things, add in some new, I'm sure. But it's God who needs to do this work. And I have a strong supsicion what God will show me is that there is plenty of time to do His work and do it gladly. And that all I do is actually His work.

Then, hopefully, when I'm getting ready for bed at night (another ritual to create, I think!) I won't be feeling all the failures of what I didn't get done. I can rest in knowing that God is in control of my time. Yup, that sounds much better to me.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven. ~ Ecclesiastes 3 (love this, one of my all-time favorite passages)

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.~ Ephesians 5:15-16

Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. ~ Proverbs 6:3

The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied. ~ Proverbs 13:4

Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails. ~ Proverbs 19:21