Prioritize Your Time. You’ll Never Get It Back

 

Hello Friends!   It’s great to be online and writing again.  A week ago, my computer was dead. I contacted my computer guy to come pick it up and see what was wrong.  He called me two days later to inform me I fried the hard drive, and I needed a new one.  There was more bad news. He could not recover anything from the old hard drive.   I had an external hard drive to back up to, but I assumed it did all that on its own.  WRONG!

I had been writing my first Christian book and had six chapters completed. GONE!  Priceless pictures of our past ten vacations were gone too. However, the Lord was there to reassure me I had nothing to worry about.  “Fear Not,” I heard His small voice say. “Practice patience”.  I was without my computer for five days. It was difficult not being able to blog, especially when I had some wonderful ideas that I wanted to share, but I didn’t back up my ideas on paper either.

During the time I was without my computer, God suggested I focus on other things. As I laid in bed last night, I realized that I had spent more time reading scriptures in the five days than I had in months.  It had been months since I had actually spent any quality time with the Lord.  Oh I’d pray many times throughout the day and would give a shout out to Jesus, but what I had stopped doing was retiring early enough that I would read scripture before bedtime. I’d been so busy with  blogging and learning about social media that I took the time  I once spent in scripture and prayer. This also brought me to another realization that I would like to share with those of you who are parents.

My husband and I went out for dinner last weekend. I noticed that there were several tables of families (mom, dad, children). At every table having one child up to four children all shared the same family trait. Both mother and father were on their cell phones. The older children had their own phones too.  The younger ones sat quietly.  One woman sat with her daughter that was around 8 or 9 years old.  Mom was talking on her phone while her dinner sat untouched. The daughter had finished her meal and was just waiting patiently.  Parents, if this sounds like you, please listen to me.  While cell phones didn’t exist when I was a child, bars did.  My mother would take me out to dinner, sit me in a booth and directed the waitress to let me order whatever I wanted while she sashayed back to the “cocktail lounge.”  I remember feeling hurt that my own mother didn’t want to sit and talk with me. I was self conscious that the adults in the restaurant were staring at me wondering why I was sitting alone. Dinner at home wasn’t much better.  My mom, grandmother and older sister ate in the living room so they could watch the evening news. I was told to  sit in the kitchen  with my dinner because I was too young and I’d make a mess on the carpet or furniture.  I became used to eating by myself and,  as a teenager, I developed an eating disorder that I still battle to this day.

It’s been over 50 years and I still think about my plight every time I see a child of a single parent taking second place to the mother’s cell phone.  Meal time should be family time whenever possible.

How does this all tie together you might be asking?  It all has to do with priorities.  God should always come first in our lives. The Lord gently showed me I had allowed technology to take the special time I used to spend reading the bible and talking to Him.  It’s important to be mindful of our actions and how we spend our time.  God and family should never take a back seat to technology.

Are You Serving Anyone Besides Yourself?

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in various forms.” (1 Peter 4:10)

This verse came at the precise time this morning. For years I have been wondering what God’s purpose was for my life. Growing up, I had dreams of being an outstanding singer, an actress, a teacher, a public speaker, or a famous writer. I sang in the school choir, acted in our local theatre, became a teacher, opened my own business, and  became a published author and speaker with the National Tutoring Associaiton.  Since the age of 18, I have worked with children and adults with disabilities.

When we moved to Idaho four years ago, I promised God that I would serve Him. For the first year, I stepped out of my comfort zone and volunteered at our church in Children’s ministry, women’s ministry, and benevolence. One or two days a week, I went to our local animal shelter and volunteered to walk dogs. I was happy serving. I loved what I was doing and discovered a new passion.

The following year, my husband and I had to go back into the workforce. I went back to teaching children having autism. While I realized this was a gift from God, I admit I wasn’t always working with a positive attitude. I wanted to serve God volunteering at the church and in the community. I wanted to pursue my dream of writing and becoming a public speaker for the Lord. Because I had to work full time, I could not continue serving in the roles I had held my first year with the church. Now, I was doing the right thing but with the wrong attitude. I wanted to serve the Lord doing what I wanted to do, but the Lord reminded me that when you serve others, you are serving Him. “Serve the Lord with gladness” (Psalm 100:2).

God draws people and opportunities across our path so we can be a blessing to others. Once I got my mind off myself and realized that my occupation was serving God, my attitude changed. We all need to serve where we are with a good attitude. You may feel you want to do something significant, but the small things God calls you to do may be a stepping stone to something bigger. You don’t know where that small step is leading. Promotions don’t come from people, promotions come from God.

When we serve others, we are serving God. If we continue being our best where we are, the blessings will come to us. Never discount the power of serving. You are never wasting time serving others.

“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)

 

 

What Is Your Calling? (Written to me from my best friend)

This was written to me by my friend of 50+ years.  She was a believer long before I came to the Lord.  I wrote her the other day and told her I think I know what my calling is.  This is how she responded.  It was so touching I had to share.  Thank you Sheryl for loving me even through the worst parts of my life. 

These are the thoughts that God put on my heart regarding a person’s “calling.” It seems that this term is actually used incorrectly. I don’t think people necessarily have just one calling in their spiritual life. Some people have many. I think the correct term is more, “What are my gifts that I can use to serve God, and how?”

For all of us, our “calling” is to draw non-believers to the Gospel of Christ and eternal life. All Christians have the same calling. God may use any of our special gifts, which have been given to each of us as He deemed; in any way, and at any time to serve Him. For many people, their gifts are used repeatedly and randomly. Such as someone with the gift of serving, who may make meals for a needy family, and serve in various other random ways. This same person will not have just the one gift, God has given him/her others to use at other times too. If he/she is listening and being obedient to God’s call, that is what is pleasing to God. Some people do have a special calling – those in ministry and missions come to mind. We see them (especially pastors) as having greater gifts than we ourselves possess, but that is not true in God’s eyes. We are all one body and each part of the body is just as important in achieving God’s mission, as the next.

It is not so important that someone finds their calling (if there is one). What is important is that we are in communication with our Father and listening to Him and being obedient to his call. We need to be patient and wait on the Lord. It is all in His timing, even when we would like it to be in ours. When we are serving the Lord – turning all the control over to Him, and waiting for his instruction on what to do next, we won’t flounder around asking, “What does God want me to do with my life?” We are already doing it. We just need to be satisfied in that knowledge.