Time..

Okay, this is a personal post. Lately I have been busy doing my own things now that the kids are in school all day. I have read a book "The Shack" and completed three 1/2 weeks of Beth Moore devotionals for a bible study I am attending on Wednesday mornings.

When I read I'm not putting laundry away. When I am studying I am not reading a calander, When I share at lunch with a friend, I am not cleaning my house. Get the picture..I was not prioritizing the seconds of my day.

God has been cleaning out my heart, showing me my imperfections and giving me strength through all of it. God revealed to me that I am not perfect. Here is what happened.

I agreed to work this weekend to let my boss have a weekend off. I had a weekend off last week. Only I forgot it was the same weekend that my kids had Friday and Monday off school. I was now working all those days! What was I going to do with my kids now. I try to help someone with a spontaneous yes and I end up leaving my kids Friday and Monday with my wonderful Aunt and Uncle who stepped up willingly.
Hugh had to work too.

I was mad at myself. I had noone else to blame. I wanted to go to the pumpkin farm, but I was stuck working all weekend!! I had to keep my word at work. It taught me to slow down and pay attention to detail!


God knew I needed this devotional today!!

Gilrfriends in God devotional was fitting today! All God here!!

I open up this email and here is what I read!
Today's Truth
Psalm 90:12 Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom. (NLT)

Every minute of every day is either wasted or invested. Since the Bible contains over 400 verses about time, we can safely assume that time management is important to God. In fact, it is a spiritual discipline. We not only need to view time as an eternal investment, but as an immediate one as well. One of the most valuable investments we can make is to spend time in solitude.

I once read an African proverb, "Lord Jesus, make my heart sit down". Solitude is deliberately and diligently setting aside time to "sit down" at the feet of Jesus. It is in those still, quiet moments of solitude at his feet that we can more clearly hear God speak and gain strength and wisdom for the journey ahead. In order to practice solitude, we must learn how to budget time.

( I had lots of solitude, it's the budget time part I needed to work on)

It's been said that women must balance their time more carefully than men because women don't have wives. The fact is we are all responsible for how we spend the time God has given us. Time is a precious gift! Every morning we are credited with 86,400 seconds. No balance is carried into the next day and every night erases what we fail to use. If we use it in the wrong way, that time is lost forever and cannot be reclaimed. Un-budgeted time gravitates to our weaknesses, is stolen by others or wasted on the unimportant. We must budget time, just as Jesus did.

Set priorities: Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us that "there is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven" (NLT). We either set our life priorities or allow circumstances and other people to set them.

Schedule priorities: There is a right time and a right way to carry out right priorities. Ecclesiastes 8:5-6 warns, "For a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure. For there is a proper time and procedure for every delight" (NASB). We must schedule time for solitude. We must set aside portions of each day to spend with God.

Stick to priorities: The apostle Paul teaches us to "make the most of every opportunity" (Ephesians 5:16 NIV). Every challenge will either wreck our priorities or affirm them. Right priorities stand firm in the face of change.

One day, we will all stand before the Father and give an account of how we invested our time. Today, examine your time management habits in light of eternity. Initiate schedule changes that honor God. Make a new commitment to invest your time wisely.

Now that I have blogged today, I am going to make some apple turnovers, my husbands favorite!