Faithful Friday: Time

"Are you there, Heather? It's Me, God"


Sometimes I wonder if this is how God feels when I've had a scattered day....or week....or summer.  When I let my to-do list bump the most Important to the side.  When even my best intentions fail miserably and I plan yet again to do better tomorrow.

When I haven't made time for the One who gives me time.

Anyone who knows me at all, would say that I'm good at time management, great even.  It's something that has always come natural to me but throughout my life and career it's been necessity.  Maybe part of it is being the first born - or coming from a family with habitual lateness that drove me crazy.  I'm sure some of my skills came with being a young mom juggling both college and working full time.  And it was helpful to have a short stint in teaching professional development, which focused on time management.  As I have most of my life, if I'm going to teach it, I better preach it myself.

Which brings me to my point, and the topic of today's post.  I haven't been very faithful in my time with God...meaning I haven't managed my time well.

Yes, I have multiple reasons (er, excuses) like changing jobs, summertime, and chronic fatigue but truth be told, there's a lot of days I just didn't schedule enough time with Him.  And I'm the one who suffers from it.  Though I often crave physical rest, I know that what I really need is rest in Him.

While it might sound crass to "pencil in" time with God, I'm sure He'd rather appreciate me setting special time aside instead of tossing up flares and screeching in for a quick check-up here and there.

This dawned on me last night when our pastor admitted the same struggle.

On a side note, let me say how refreshing it is to have spiritual leaders who are up front about their shortcomings.  None of us are perfect, we all make mistakes.  The key is learning from them and then sharing to build each other up.  I love that our church supports and encourages us, instead of looking down their noses at us, like we are a different breed.

It helps to know that others mess up too, which is maybe why I'm so forthcoming with my faults in this blog. I figure it is worth spilling my guts, if it helps at least one person.  So, who's with me today?

Do you ever feel as it there just isn't enough hours in the day?  Like you're running on empty?  Like your "check engine" light is blinking but nobody has time to take it in for a tune-up?

Even though God is there for the emergency situations in life, He doesn't want to just be a band-aid.  God desires to be there every mile along your journey.  Up the hills, down the valleys, but most all through the plain-nothing-to-see roads of life.

My commute/prayer time is something I've missed since changing to a job five minutes from home.  I never thought I'd complain about not having to drive 45 minutes to work (and there's LOTS about that I don't miss) but my quiet time with God has suffered.  I was guaranteed two blocks of time, at the start and end of my day, to just talk and listen.  That time was precious.

Now, the responsibility falls on me to ensure I set aside time each day.

For now, I'm learning and adjusting.  My schedule changes daily (which I enjoy) but it does make it more difficult to be consistent.  Although my alarm clock is groaning with the changes of back to school, I am looking forward to a steadier routine.  And praying it helps me carve out time with the One who means the most.

How do you manage your quiet time with God?  When do you read His word?  I'd love to hear from you!

Case of the Mondays??

If people looked forward to Mondays as much as Fridays, the week would surely fly by faster than it does. Instead, most moan about Monday as if it were the same as a trip to dentist, which I've never really understood because I love going for a cleaning!

Anyhoo, if you're having one of those Mondays, I thought I'd treat you to some of the joys that have come my way lately.  Maybe they'll brighten up your day.  Or make you smile.  It's always better to smile than frown anyway because they say it takes more muscles to make a grumpy face...and I'm sure it causes more wrinkles!

Plus, I feel like I owe ya a post, since I wasn't very Faithful at posting this past Friday.  More on that below!

May seem funny to start out with on a post about joy but my weekend started a little weepy.  You see, my baby is starting High School this week.  My itty bitty, little mouse, once tiny now towering boy is all-most grown-up and now has one foot out the door.  It's hard for this momma to grasp that her strapping guy of 6 feet 2 1/2 inches has reached this stage of life.

At the same time, this season he's in brings up a lot of bittersweet memories about Austin that add to the water works.  Freshman orientation is about the last happy high school memory we have of our first born, now gone from this world.  He left us just three short months later.

So you can imagine that I was biting my lip extra hard at an effort to keep it all together Thursday night, as we walked Noah around his new school.

But several things helped me in the process, like seeing the excitement on Noah's face.  I don't know why but I think he's been ready for high school since preschool.  Orientation didn't start until 5 pm but he was calling me after lunch, wanting to know when we'd leave.  Much to our surprise, Tina even got teary-eyed, as we drove past the middle school.  She commented that she didn't know if she was ready for her "little cousin" to be this big.  That girl never cries at things like this but it hugged my heart at how close they've become. It helped distract her tears, in finding excitement by showing him around and introducing him to teachers.  Each of them got a chuckle at her "little cousin" introduction, given that he's two feet taller than she.
And of course, at the close of the night, once we settled into the car to head home, I glanced down at my phone to see the battery on 23%.  Austin's way of saying hello and that he'll most certainly be watching over his little brother.

The rest of the weekend continued to be focused on our two teens, as we began and completed their school shopping in one giant swoop.  It was sweaty and hectic, crowded and chaotic, and my feet hurt more with each step.  I'd say it reminded me again and again how old I'm becoming but even my energetic dancer complained about her aching toes, so I know it meant we walked A LOT.  But in the mix of the hustle and bustle, we did share some great moments and lots of laughs.

Slug bug punches.  Bohemian Rhapsody.  White Castle Crave Case.  

Funny Tshirts.  

The search for the biggest - and smallest - shoes in the store.  

Impromptu visit with my sister's babies and extra sweet hugs from Baby Rae.  

Fresh, yummy cherries.  Stripper pants.  Evening walk with my hubby.

School snack stock-up.

  A Tim & Tina date.

And of course....Sushi!

It was a wonderful way to spend the last free weekend before school starts 

and this momma surely enJOYed soaking up the memories!