Today we not only turn the page to a new day and new month, but also a new year. If you are reading this, you have been given the gift of life and time once more.
What will you do with this gift?
Each of us will choose how we spend it and sometimes forget that how much we are given is unknown to us.
It can be easy for us to complain about time. Some say they have too much time on their hands while others say they never have enough time to do all they want to do. I get that! I have experienced both at one time or another, but more of the latter.
I have reached the conclusion that even though there are “must do” things in every day whether it is work, household chores, or other assignments I have agreed to, I am still the one who is to steward the time. I make many choices about what my days and weeks look like. Many of the “have to do” things reflect my priorities, my values, my preferences, and my passions.
They also reflect consequences of other choices I have made. What kind? What I chose to do with education and how that impacts the choice of my work and even location. Yes, things can happen outside of my choices. There are forces outside of my control that act on me. I can become ill through no fault of my own, but I can also become ill because I did not steward my physical health by good choices about sleep, food, and exercise.
Each day we receive a blank page. What am I writing on it? What will you write on yours?
What we write each day weaves many threads together that becomes ‘our’ story. That is likely most evident in a new year when we set goals for the year ahead, resolutions for what we want to do differently in order to be different.
What will you write?
The key to that answer is whether we recognize we are each a part of a much larger story, God’s story. It can be easy to forget that. We can get caught up with the notion that the story is about us rather than remember He has created each of us to be a part of a much larger story than we could ever create and it is His story.
Even so, He gives us a lot of leverage in how our part of it will play out no matter what our role may be.
A long time ago I heard a graduation speaker share this:
“If you love life, do not waste time because time is what life is made of and what you are is God’s gift to you. What you make of yourself is your gift to God.”
The memory of that statement has remained etched in my mind. When I was younger, I thought I needed to fill up my days to not waste time. Now I recognize there are many ways to fill up a day and the speaker didn’t mean to cram each day’s schedule to the brim. I believe he meant that each day should count whether I was working, appreciating the beauty around me and being in touch with the One who created it, or handling the duties that might come to me as a wife and mother.
I don’t take time for granted.
So, today as we turn the page on another day, month, and year, what will you choose?
Will you gain new insights in the role the Lord has invited you to play in His story?
Will you value your role whether it seems large or small?
Just remember. Each day you are given the opportunity to add a few lines to His story. He loved you that much and invited you to create with Him and to therefore bring honor and glory to Him about all others.
What will you write?
Time easily slips away from us. Life is so precious, we need to make the most of it and our time here. Thank you Pam for linking up at the #BloggingGrandmothersLinkParty 23. I shared your post on Fb, G+, Pin, and Tw.
Time is such a tricky concept, isn’t it? I wrote a post back in November about the passing of time and similar ideas that you have shared here. What a fabulous thought-provoking and inspiring post! Thanks for sharing at my #SpreadTheKindness Link Up.
Shelbee
http://www.shelbeeontheedge.com
Yes, it really is, Shelbee! We can so often take the gift for granted and forget it is finite and limited and not one of us knows exactly how much has been allotted to us. I so much appreciate your comments.
We are always so busy, jumping from thing to another, that we rarely notice how time passes, but it does, and quicker than we realize. Sometimes it’s good to stop for a while and think if we are truly using well this short time we have on earth, of if we are just wasting it instead. Like you said, we should never take time for granted.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful words at The Really Crafty Link Party this wee, and may the new year bring you many blessings for you and your family.
Great to hear from you, Teresa! It seems we recall these things about time and then just about the time we turn around, we forget and continue our crazy pace. We have had a hectic pace of travel over the holidays this year and I am just sorting myself out and looking to start next week in a routine that is my favorite in the month of January…..SLOWER!!! Blessings on your weekend and New Year!💕
I’m pretty OCD about time. I love the thought that each day is part of a story we are writing. Thanks for the post that helps to create the right focus.
Thanks, Char! I think the older we get, the more we value it and realize there is less of it than we thought or hoped!!
Time is precious and we need to be so grateful for the gift of time we have been given.
trying to keep up my journaling every day. to record time–its joys, pressures and events. And to vent when need be–and not waste time dwelling on difficult moment. vent and be done with it. great time saver.
Good plan! I don’t always accomplish that when we are traveling to see children and grandchildren often. (They all live hundreds of miles away and this past year we spent 72 days on the road!!!)😊
I started a new journal yesterday, and it felt very momentous to me, all that empty space and the unknown days and words. Thank you for reminding me to view all of this as gift and to turn my eyes to the Giver every day, every page.
Interesting….that is how I can feel when I begin a new one. I still have pages that are empty in the one I used in 2017 and I have debated if I keep using those up since one of my granddaughter’s gave me a beautiful new one!! Have not decided for certain. Always brings a smile to my heart when I see you pop up here!❤️