Time Management

I've been doing just a bit of study about time management.... and I was reminded that we can't manage time. Time marches on. We choose how to spend it, but we can't stop time, speed it up, or slow it down. We can, however, find peace in this moment. We can enjoy beauty, choose to love, and see the Hand of God in what is happening.

Some times are easier to see the beauty in, some times are harder. We get lost in pain, buried by grief. We are transported by beauty, lost in grace. And yet, at the end of the day, our choice is simply our response. God has ordained the days of our lives, and He alone is God. Our choices influence our lives, change our paths, and are part of our reality. But there are many things that are outside of our control, beyond our grasp. 

These days I feel like I am fighting with time, struggling against the limitations, out of sync with reality. I've been stalled in the process of finding new routines in a new home. I'm tired. And I've been grouchy.

But as I sit here and reflect I'm reminded that good choices are worth the effort. I don't have a choice about moving, it's already done. Things cannot go back to the way they were, I cannot choose to hide in my comfort zone. But I can choose to see the beauty, to experience the grace, to enjoy God's peace,  and to reach out to those around me. Or I can choose the other side of each of those coins. And my choice will determine at least part of how I experience each day....

The power of a song...

There is power in song... and in smells and sights and sounds. Power to not only change our perspective, but sometimes to take us to another time and place. Last Sunday morning I was in Blumenort church, standing just in front of my padded pew, singing along, worshipping. The light was just right, the temperature was comfortable, there was enough space for everyone to be comfortable, the sound system was great, and the music was awesome. Everything was just as it should be, just as it is most Sunday mornings.

As we began to sing "Because He Lives," I was suddenly a young girl, sitting on a hard slat wood pew, singing my heart out to a poorly tuned piano. Swatting biting gnats. Surrounded by friends, all of us hot and sweaty. The air barely moved despite the ceiling fans overhead and the windows that had only screen to cover them. A leader in our mission community had suddenly passed away the week before, but he and his wife had chosen this as the theme song for our field conference. So we all sang, tears often running down our faces. I cried not for the personal connection I had with this man of God, but for his family and our community. I cried for the reality of death and the uncertainty of life. And last Sunday I cried again, this time for the blessings of life that we leave behind as we move on, for the multitudes of opportunities and experiences we as a family have had, and for the simple reality of living in a sin-filled world.

Life's like that, time sometimes stands still and sometimes rushes by. Things transport us to other times and places and we relive our memories. Or we are stuck in the present, caught in our circumstances and chores, sometimes paralysed by indecision or the magnitude of things before us. One day, beyond time, we will see things as they really are, and we will worship the King. Maybe then we will understand our memories and our present, for we will be truly free!

Beyond time travel, we moved last week and are quite settled into our new place. Kevin should be home from Kansas next week. Garry is busy with various aviation and relief-related projects. Kaleb is making great animations and working hard at school, though he isn't thrilled that he got to spend his spring break moving instead of enjoying friends and time off. I'm blogging when I'm not cleaning or cooking or teaching school. I hope you have a blessed day, rooted in the beauty of the moment while blessed by memories....