Making the most of the time you have

Both David and I have experienced the death of someone close to us.  David lost his father in a farming accident when he was 13.  It was sudden, unexpected, and shocking.  I lost my father when I was 22, after watching him fight cancer for a little over 6 years.  It was drawn out, expected, but still shocking when his death finally occurred.   The grief that we both experienced was tremendous.

These experiences shaped our lives and even our marriage.  It's a conversation we have always had--from the very beginning of our marriage.  We've always had life insurance and we've always talked about what the other spouse should do in the event of our death.  Though it sounds morbid to have such conversations so early on in marriage, it also served us well to keep a sense of reality in our lives.  We never know how long we have on this earth or how long someone else has...and therein lies the lesson of making the most of the days we now have.

Ephesians 5;15 - 17 says, "Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.  So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is."  I really like those verses because it spurs me to think about what I am doing everyday, and what that looks like in God's kingdom.  It's easy for me to get caught up in the things going on in my world that seem gargantuan, when in fact, they are not the things I need to be focused on.  As a homeschooling parent, I spend loads of energy trying to make sure my kids are being educated to the best of my ability.  Not a bad way to spend energy, but sometimes I can get focused so much on "finishing the next book, or chapter, or unit" that I lose sight of what they are really learning.  Am I spending time with them as individuals?  Am I helping them to grow in the ways of God?

I can also get easily distracted by household chores....laundry, dishes, clean bathrooms, grocery shopping, feeding the masses (my family)....and somehow measuring my "success" on how well I have kept the house clean...or in many cases, not so clean. (Yikes!)  I somehow feel on top of the world if I have made the dinner menus out until the next paycheck, gotten everything I need at the store without forgetting anything, kept track of my calendar and everyone else's, answered my emails quickly, prepared my lessons, written on the blogs I've agreed to contribute to and just plain done everything expected of me...Perfectly!  Yet the irony is that as soon as those tasks are completed, there is still more to do...and the list becomes endless.  Do you think that is a good way to be spending my time?

Sometimes the answer is "yes", because what I am doing is serving others or my family.  The key is to not become so wrapped up in the things I need to do, that I lose focus on the things I should do instead.  As my dad's time on earth was coming to an end and he knew it, he definitely knew how to make the most of the time he had left.  No bucket list for him--he had already lived his life and experienced many things.  He desired to spend time with my mom, and with me, and with God.  He poured over the scriptures often in those last few months.  He didn't share what he and God were experiencing together, but my mom and I knew that he was getting ready for the end.

It shouldn't take the death of a loved one to spur us into action, nor should it take some scary news.  Life is fleeting and we never know when ours will be required of us.  There is much to do--and much that should be left undone.  The days are evil and we need to be wise and not foolish.  There is no time for self-absorption and self-reflection when there is a world out there that needs....US! We have the good news, we have the message and we know the One who can make all things new!

There is no time like the present.  Let's start NOW!