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time

Vintage antique pocket watch and heart of the book's pages
Sermon Starters

Make the Most of Your Time

by Roger Barrier
written by Roger Barrier

WHAT TIME IS IT?

Ecclesiastes 3:1-15

(Ecclesiastes #3)

S-1403

·SLIDE #1: How many of you are wearing a watch?  Or you have a pocket watch or clock of some kind with you this morning?

How many did not bring a watch this morning?  What’s wrong with you?  You are in the minority.

Anybody here bring two watches? Probably your cell phone and your watch.

Why?  Because time is so important to us.

Let’s play “Let’s Pretend.” Let’s pretend that your banker phoned you and said that an anonymous donor has decided to deposit 86,400 pennies into your account every day for the rest of your life.

You grab a pencil and start figuring. That’s $864 a day. $864 times seven equals over $6000 a week, times fifty-two. That’s almost $315,000 a year.

He adds, “But there’s one stipulation… you must spend all the money that same day. No balance will be carried over to the next day.

Now let’s play “Get Serious.” Every morning God deposits into your bank of time

86,400 seconds represent 1,440 minutes every day, which equals 525,600 minutes per year.

Now, the same stipulation applies. You have to spend it all. No minutes are ever carried over on credit to the next day.

This is what is so tough about time.  It keeps moving and you can’t save it up.  So, if you are not careful, it real easy to waste.

Let’s go back to let’s pretend.  Every day you have to spend $864.  Easy to spend it on stuff.  Cars and toys because you have to get rid of it.

There was an old movie, Brewster’s Millions. Brewster’s rich uncle died and left him a vast fortune.  But there was a catch.  The Uncle was afraid he’d waste it.  So, take $1 million now or have a chance for all $300 million. He had to spend $1,000,000 every day for 30 days and at the end of 30 days own absolutely nothing.  He bought a ball team, refurnished an apartment, clothes, rented expensive automobiles and threw it all away.

·SLIDE #3: Every day we have to spend 1,440 minutes and if we’re not careful, we will squander and waste it on little things that have no last lasting value—or we can make an impact over 50 years.

Solomon learned much during his fling. He has given us advice on where to look to find real value in life. Get the tapes. Now, in chapter 3, he takes up the issue of time.

LET’S EXAMINE THE PASSAGE AND SEE WHAT HE SAYS.

1. Life is filled with all sorts of events as time marches on.

READ ECCLESIASTES 3:1-8.

All are opposites.  Some build and then destroy, while others tear down and then build up.

Time marches on.  Realistic, Fatalistic, good exeriences and bad experiences.

2. Life is beautiful when God makes the right things happen at the right times.

READ ECCLESIASTES 3:9-11.

Death at the right time is beautiful.  Death at the wrong time is not.

Contrast Carl Mendenhall: “Grace, today is a good day to die, isn’t it?” with Desperado suicide.

3. God puts eternity in our hearts.

READ ECCLESIASTES 3:11, 14.

If it is not eternal then it will never satisfy in my heart.

: 4. We need to enjoy life while we are here.

READ ECCLESIASTES 3:12-13.

Ecclesiastes is a book about enjoying life.  Four or five times Solomon reminds us to enjoy life.  It will be a shame to go through lifetime and murmur and complain all the time.

5. God will one day ask us to account for our actions.

READ ECCLESIASTES 3:15.

Judgment is coming.  That should affect how we live.

LET’S DRAW SOME PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS TO HELP US LIVE BETTER LIVES.

1. FIGURE OUT WHAT TIME IT IS AND REACT ACCORDINGLY.

Read some “times” in verses 2-8.

When your child is injured in an accident, it is time to adjust all priorities and give the care he needs.  It won’t go on forever, but now is the time to take care of your child.

When you are on vacation, stop thinking about work.  It is time to relax.

When you are in college you stay out all night because you want to party and have fun and never complain.  Then a few years later you still stay up all night caring for a crying baby who won’t go to sleep and you complain about it all the time.  Don’t resent it.  This is the time of life for that.

If it is time to work, then work.  If it is time to relax, then relax.

It is fun to watch Glenn deal with his new baby.  Angie’s tired.  He is tired.

I sympathized and told him that the best way not to stretch this exhaustion out is to go ahead and have another baby right now so they will minimize the years they spend in sleepless nights. I was really enjoying this.

Glenn looked up: “Another baby. Now? Are you kidding? I wouldn’t want a dog right now.”

Roger:  “Well, enjoy it, it really won’t last long.  Before you know it they will be gone.”

Glenn:  “The last thing we are worrying about now is the empty nest syndrome.”

What time is it in your life?  Don’t get upset.  React accordingly.

Moose Johnson and Herschel Walker played for Dallas Cowboy football fans.

Moose had bulging joint.  Career is over.  Herschel was 34 and getting a new lease on life.  Moose needed to be planning for retirement. Famous all over the country.  Go on speaking circuit and raise money for charities if he figures out what time it is.

Figure out what season of life you are in. At least six seasons.  The eras overlap so that a new one is getting underway while the previous one is not yet terminated.

Childhood: 0 to 13. Personality 85% set by age 12.  Openness, no walls, great opportunity to lead friends to Christ.

Adolescence: 10-22: Personality is 96% set.  Crucial years.  Bridge into adult years. Energy and idealism. Willing to take risks and make a difference.

Early Adulthood: 17-45:  Peak years of biological and intellectual functioning. Still dealing with overcoming childhood issues while making momentous life changing decisions like marriage, occupation, life style.  Child rearing.  Time to set course to serve Christ.

Middle Adulthood: 40-65: Greatest earning power. Body slows. Great artists tend to produce their greatest and most profound works during this period. Launch children.  Empty nest. Time to shape the world around you.  Energy coupled with savy. Mentoring.

Senior Adulthood: 60-80: No longer occupies center stage of the world.  Must deal with increasing death and sickness of friends and loved ones. Increasingly out of phase with younger generations.  Yet, more time to impact for Christ and do all the things you’ve always wanted to.

Senior Senior Adulthood: 75-100: Sickness, few significant relationships, increasing bodily discomfort, facing death.  Ministry to people with life and death issues.

All sorts of issues to deal with in every stage.  But the toughest time is the transition years between stages.  Moving from childhood to adolescence is tough, from adolescence to early adulthood.

Are you in transition?  Child rearing and my mom and empty nest calling me to dinner.

What time is it?

Life cycle graph of man and woman’s satisfaction.

      “She’s heading out for identity.  He is coming home for intimacy.”

God has made everything appropriate in his time.

How much we fail to see when we miss God’s timing!

 2. SINCE CHANGE IS ONE OF THE FEW THINGS YOU CAN ALWAYS DEPEND ON, HANDLE IT WELL WHEN IT COMES.

Mohammed Ali had Parkinson’s Disease.  How many thought he would be invincible?

Jerry Rice sat the sidelines in shorts.  Little legs, never saw him out of uniform.

Aging Bob Dole made VISA commercials.

It is a difficult time for these guys.

Leaving home for first time and you are on your own.

Extended honeymoon and now you have children in the house and no time for each other.

Chart of proper transition through change by Cynthia Scott and Dennis Jaffe.

Illustrate with lost fiancé.

Denial: focus on past and deny reality of present.  Many get stuck here.  Deal in past, public complaining.

Resistance: focus still on past; internal feelings of anxiety, loss, depression, anger

Exploration: focus moves to future as explore possibilities for survival.  Awkward phase, confusion, asking questions and looking for answers.

Commitment: clarified focus on future, affirmation of right direction.

3. LIVE AND CHOOSE IN LIGHT OF ETERNITY BECAUSE NO INSTANT REPLAY IS ALLOWED.

Fourth and goal and the ball is on the one yard line. Down by 6 points.  Hike, quarter back drops back, lines collide as ball carrier hurtles for the goal line. Whistle sounds and yellow flags litter the field as men in Foot Locker sales uniforms scurry about.

The call: “Off-sides.  Defense. Half the distance to the goal.  Repeat fourth down.

Main intersection at Ina and Oracle.  You start your left turn on a green arrow when another car runs the red light in front of you and collides head on with your car.  Whistle blows, flags litter the intersection and officers scurry about.

The call: “Illegal turn.  Repeat the turn.  The opposing car must start 15 yards back from the intersection.

No, you are cut and bleeding.  You get no second chance.

Someone has to choose what to do when. Life is continually made up of options.  Every hour is an hour of decision.

Shoplifting at Sears last Wednesday night.  “His life will never be the same.” Somebody blow the flag and penalize me 15 yards and give me another chance.  No.

Lunch with a coworker leads to an affair.

Back seat of an auto and you are pregnant.

You are making decisions every day, so choose wisely.

“God has put eternity in our hearts.” What in the world does that mean?

When we get eternity securely in place, it’s remarkable what it will do to time.

Professor in Seminary – got one of those little adjustable calendars.  Figured out how many days that he might reasonably have left if God gave him his 3 score and 10 years.  Then every day he stamps in his calendar how many days he has left.

You say – “How morbid” – No not at all – how motivational.

4. DON’T BE A DOPE.  ENJOY LIFE WHILE YOU HAVE THE CHANCE.

Verses 12-13, 15.

Talking with Glenn about the complaining Sr. Adults at the Five and Diner.

“Do you think this means that God will hold us accountable if we are grumpy and miserable. Is God going to be pleased with our attitude?  “I gave you food, vacations, car, friendships, relationships, money, televisions and all you ever did is grumble and complain.  I will hold you accountable for whether or not you enjoyed life.

God will say, “You dope!”

Don’t be a dope. Enjoy yourself while you are here.

SLOW DANCE: anonymous poem from Werner Goering

Have you ever watched kids on a merry go-round?

Or listened to rain slapping the ground?

Ever followed a Butterfly’s erratic flight?

Or gazed at the Sun into a fading night?

You better slow down.  Don’t dance so fast!

Time is short, the music won’t last!

Do you run through each day – on the fly?

When you ask, “How are you?” …do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed

With the next day’s hundred chores running through your head?

You better slow down.  Don’t dance so fast!

Time is short, the music won’t last!

Ever told your child, “We’ll do it tomorrow.”

And, in your haste – not seen his sorrow?

Ever lost touch.  Let a good friendship die?

Because you never had time to call and say, “Hi”…?

You better slow down.  Don’t dance so fast!

Time is short, the music won’t last!

When you run so fast – to get somewhere,

You miss half the fun – of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,

It is like an unopened gift thrown away.

Life is not a race, so take it slower.

Hear the music before the song is over.

5. BE SURE TO DO THE ONE THING THE BIBLE SAYS WE HAVE TO DO TODAY.

Read Hebrews 3-4:  “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart. . .  But encourage one another as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sins deceitfulness. . . .Let us therefore make every effort to enter into God’s rest.”

“But as many as received Him [Christ], to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His Name.” (John 1:12)

Becky at UMC and Dr. Feinberg: “You just don’t know do you?”

Andy Miller suicide at Mt. View.  Be sensitive.  Took everyone by surprise.

You need to receive Christ today. You may leave here and be run over by a bus crossing the street to the mall.  “Aw, that won’t happen to me.  I have plenty of time.”

“Yeah, but, you don’t know do you?”  No.  So give your heart to Christ at the awning today.

Close with a poem by a contemporary Danish poet I hear on Garrison Keillor several months ago. It is entitled TIME.  Time passes by before we know it.

We have twelve clocks in our house; still there’s never enough time.

You go into the kitchen and get chocolate milk for your spindly son, and when you return, he has grown too old for chocolate milk, demands beer, girls, revolution.

Your daughter comes home from school, goes out to play hopscotch, comes in a little later, and asks if you would mind the baby while she and her husband go to the theatre.

While they are at the theatre, the child, with some difficulty, is promoted to the tenth grade.

You photograph your full-blooded young wife, with fashion coordinated outfit, an opulent fountain in the background,

But the picture is hardly developed before she announces that it is time to collect her old-age pension.

Softly, the widow inside her awakes.

You want to make the most of your time, but it gets lost all the time.

Where has it gone?  Was it ever there at all? Have you spent too much time throwing time out?

So you roam around for awhile, without time and place.

And when it’s time, you call home, and you hear,

“Hello, this is the operator, you’ve called 959-4939.  I’m sorry.  That number is no longer in service.

      (Click)

Make the most of your time while you have it.

That is what Solomon says.

· 1. FIGURE OUT WHAT TIME IT IS.

· 2. HANDLE THE TRANSITIONAL CHANGES WELL.

· 3. LIVE IN LIGHT OF ETERNITY BECAUSE THERE IS NO INSTANT REPLAY.

· 4. DON’T BE A DOPE.  ENJOY LIFE WHILE YOU HAVE THE CHANCE.

· 5. DO THE ONE THING THE BIBLE SAYS WE HAVE TO DO TODAY. Come to Christ Today.

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Articles

What Are the Pitfalls of Social Media?

by John Beeson
written by John Beeson

Are you old enough to remember retrieving the newspaper in the morning? My dad would crack the front door every morning, stroll out to the driveway, grab The Arizona Daily Star, tuck it under his arm, and bring it to the kitchen. He would sit at the breakfast table, bowl of granola in front of him, with the news of the day spread out on 15” x 22” of grey paper.

Today, most of us get the news before we reach the kitchen. Sitting on the toilet, we scroll our 3” x 5” devices and the news of our friends and the world is piped into our palms via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

This change is not neutral. While there are many ways we can point to social media as a benefit (connection with friends across the world, and providing a voice for those who wouldn’t have had the ability to speak to larger groups, for instance), it doesn’t come without a cost.

Netflix’s The Social Dilemma[i] raises the alarm about the cost of social media. What are the dangers of social media? Most of us have a nagging suspicion that all is not well with our relationship with social media. But what is it precisely that we should be concerned about?

The ex-employees and leaders of various social media platforms put their finger on what some of those issues are in The Social Dilemma. These employees point out that Google, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Tik Tok, and the rest are leveraging the work of psychologists to capture their prize: an ever-increasing slice of our attention. They’ve weaponized our neurological rewards systems against us.

Let’s examine four specific dangers of social media:

1)      Time

I’m grateful my parents didn’t let us buy an Atari or Nintendo when I was a kid. I didn’t have the wisdom nor the self-restraint to protect me from the magnetic dopamine hits those screens provided. I remember going to friends’ houses and getting sucked into the world of video games. As many other young men have learned when they went off to college, I learned the challenge of having unfettered access to video games in my college dorm. As soon as I came back to my room, there was certain to be someone, somewhere on the hall playing. The words of Solomon about the prostitute could be applied to the call of those screens:

For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil,
but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death;
her steps follow the path to Sheol;
she does not ponder the path of life;
her ways wander, and she does not know it. (Prov 5:3-6)

Our lives have become one big college dorm room. The Siren’s call of our screen is ever-present. And we are running the ship of our attention into her rocks again and again. Check your screen time for last week. Would you want to schedule that many hours for your phone into next week’s schedule? I doubt it. Our phones are gobbling up time that, if we were wise, we would devote to prayer, reading, service, or exercise.

2)      Social Interaction

Human beings are social animals. We all need relationships. Over the past fifty years, that community has shifted from public spaces (parks, bowling alleys, and restaurants) to our cell phones. While our communities on social media are bigger and more geographically diverse, they are much thinner. Instead of a handful of friends we invest in, we invest into hundreds of relationships.

Many have exchanged a few deep relationships for many shallow ones. And the lack of face-to-face interaction means that communication we have with one another tends not to have the same depth. We don’t often move past the superficial. We rarely step through peacemaking to resolve our differences. Whenever the slightest hiccup in a relationship comes, we move on.

3)      Division

The Social Dilemma spends a bulk of its time explaining how and why social media is divisive. There are two primary reasons, both driven by the same fact: social media companies want us to be on their platforms as long as possible. We are not consumers of their products. We are their product. They sell us to advertisers.

The first reason social media is divisive is that it keeps us in our ideological echo chambers. We stay longer in places we are comfortable than uncomfortable, and so, social media companies suppress the content of friends who have perspectives that might make us uncomfortable and amplify the content of friends with whom we agree. The second reason social media companies are divisive is that they amplify content that drives heightened engagement. Go to YouTube right now and check out the titles that fill your screen: they’re almost all clickbait. It’s as though each of has a personalized National Enquirer funneled to pocket every second of every day. Outlandish headlines vie for our attention, fan our anger, and calcify our beliefs.

Republican and Democrat alike are convinced that the other party is destroying our nation. More and more see the other party as the primary threat to our nation. Social media is complicit in creating this divisive culture. It rewards us for caricaturing our ideological opponent, it suppresses nuanced, level-headed engagement.

A friend of mine posted what I quote below on Facebook last week. His post is so helpful. I wasn’t surprised to see that I was the lone comment on the post and one of only a few likes. I’m sure most of his friends didn’t even see the post as it doesn’t trigger any of the algorithm amplifiers Facebook has in play. It’s worth reading and reflecting on:

The election is over but our divisions remain deep. Today I would be heartened to remember THE COMMON GOOD. What are some things we can all agree on? What are some goals we all strive for, whatever our differences in how to achieve them?

This exercise in no way suggests that the differences aren’t real, and sometimes significant. But humanizing each other, seeing our commonalities, matters.

A few things come to mind, in no particular order. (What’s on your list??? Tell me in the comments.)

– Cherishing family and loved ones.

– Defending the innocent and the oppressed.

– Acting with justice towards one another.

– Freedom and liberty – to live as each of us sees fit, to worship or not in whatever way, to assemble and associate, to speak freely, to make use of our economic resources as we see fit.

– That we jointly protect the public square and jointly share in the burdens of our defense and governance.

– Creating good jobs and a fair shot at success.

– Rewarding hard work, innovation, and effort.

– Playing fairly, not stealing or swindling others.

– Protecting our families and communities from injury/harm.

– Not lying, not deceiving others. Not bearing false witness.

– Behaving with decency and kindness.

– Seeking truth and learning. Understanding there *is* True and False, right and wrong – and that ideas have consequences. Working hard to overcome our own biases and be open to the truth.

– Understanding one another and listening to one another.

– Honoring our obligations, written and unwritten.

– Finding and celebrating beauty in this world.

– Being good stewards of resources that have been entrusted to us.

– Enjoying good things in life – the blessings of good food and clean water and shelter and technology – and seeking to create a world where more people enjoy those things.

– Handing things on to the next generation better than we found them.

– Seeking and celebrating things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and praiseworthy.

Social media isn’t built for this type of unifying conversation. But, don’t you think we need more of it, not less?

It’s not surprising that my blog gets a fraction of the visibility it used to on social media (if you’re reading this via Facebook or Twitter, you’re in the minority). As a side note, this is why subscribing to receive blogs via email is so important to maintain the relationship between bloggers and readers, most bloggers are trying to write in a way that breaks this chain.

4)      Religious suppression

Finally, the gatekeepers of social media are not neutral arbiters. They have ideological commitments that run counter to a Christian worldview. I don’t say that with any animus toward them. It’s just a fact. They should no more expect me to host a blog that gives equal footing to a secular naturalist worldview than I should for them to create environments on their sites that are favorable for Christians. Social media companies have unequally applied their “hate speech” censorship to those of different ideological stripes.

Along with many other churches, we’ve struggled with streaming services on Facebook. Again and again our streams have been shut down due to non-existent copyright infringement. I don’t believe Facebook is targeting churches. But they’re not working hard to fix their broken system. They don’t have a reason to do so.

I fully expect these voices’ marginalization will only get worse, not better, in the coming years. Why would it be otherwise? Our interests and purposes are completely misaligned.

What now?

So, what do we do in light of this discouraging news?

First, let’s be thoughtful and strategic about our social media usage. Realize that the game is rigged against you. Knowing that, make intentional choices to tilt that game back in your favor. That might mean you keep your phone out of your bedroom or away from your desk at work, maybe it means that you remove notifications, or perhaps you uninstall the apps on your phone, or you might even delete your accounts.

Second, let’s not just pull away from what is dangerous, let’s pull toward what is good. Let’s be intentional about the way we are creating and building relationships. Let’s be thoughtful about how we are getting our news and information. Subscribe to helpful blogs and podcasts. Pick up a book. Prioritize time in the Bible and prayer.

I’m right there with you. These are challenges in my life that I’m reassessing even now. As a pastor, I believe I need to be on social media. But I’m no less immune to its pull and toxicity than you. What are your best tips? I would love to learn from you.

[i] The irony of Netflix releasing this movie should be noted, as Netflix utilizes similar technologies to its own advantage. In fact, their CEO famously said that their real competition wasn’t another company, it was sleep.

www.thebeehive.live. Used by permission.

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Devotionals

Does God Care How You Spend Your Free Time?

by Randy Alcorn
written by Randy Alcorn

How do you spend your free time? Here are Randy Alcorn’s terrific insights:

“We have to look at our lives as a window of opportunity, because none of us has unlimited time. Everyone, no matter who they are, has 168 hours a week, and we’re supposed to spend about a third of it sleeping, and then another large amount of that likely goes to work. But in terms of what we call discretionary time, how much do we actually have? And how are we spending it?

Scripture tells us to redeem the time and make the most of the time we’ve been given by living in light of eternity. We’d be wise to take these verses into account as we choose how to spend our time:

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is (Ephesians 5:15-17).

Be self-controlled and vigilant (1 Peter 5:8, PHILLIPS).

This doesn’t mean that there’s no time for exercise, fun, hanging out with friends and family, barbecues, or watching a good movie. Our leisure time can be used in ways that please God—by studying and meditating on His Word (see 2 Timothy 2:15), by resting in Christ (see Matthew 11:28-30), and by recuperating from life’s busyness, as Christ commanded His disciples (see Mark 6:31).

Scripture also says that God provides us with material things “for our enjoyment” (1 Timothy 6:17, NLT). I’m so grateful for that phrase from Scripture, because it allows me to spend reasonable time and money enjoying God’s creation without guilt and doing things like playing tennis and riding my bike. Nanci and I sometimes go out to dinner or watch a movie together, enriching our relationship. These things contribute to my physical health and my mental and emotional refreshment.

So the answer isn’t believing that spending time doing the things we enjoy is automatically wrong. Hobbies and God-honoring entertainment can be an enriching part of an abundant, satisfying, and happy life. But leisure time can also deteriorate into hours and days wasted watching mind-numbing television, endlessly browsing the Internet and social media, or indulging in fantasies, whether through pornography, explicit romance novels, or video games.

If our approach to free time is just the television is always on because we’re watching this or binging on that, then we’re likely neglecting other important things God calls us to do. Are we building relationships with our neighbors and the people God has brought in our lives? Who are we serving or reaching out to? What great books are we reading? How deep are we going in reading and studying God’s Word? All of these things can bring us great refreshment and joy.

I know people who say I don’t have time to do a weekly Bible study, but they’re actually spending the evening at home watching television or scrolling through their phone or playing video games. So we have to ask ourselves, What kind of a person will all these things make me? as opposed to What kind of person will reading God’s Word and great books, meeting with Christ’s body, and serving other people, make me?

One thing I encourage people to do is to keep track of how they spend their time for one week. (You can use a time management sheet like this one). You can keep track of everything, but most specifically your discretionary time.

When we understand how we spend our time, it makes us better stewards because we become aware of what we otherwise don’t really know. Becoming aware is the first step of stewardship, which puts us in a position to decide, “I want to spend more time reading some great books and God’s Word, and talking with my wife and reading to my kids, and to steward this time I can reduce my time on electronics by five or ten hours each week.” Again, we won’t do this without a clear picture of how we’re currently spending our time.

When I was talking to my wife Nanci about this, she reminded me that when she had food allergy issues, she was supposed to write down each and every thing she ate for several weeks. She found this very helpful. As with eating, when it comes to how you spend your time, simply knowing what you’re actually doing makes a huge difference in your ability to evaluate and make positive, God-glorifying changes.

I admit sometimes I really do struggle with how quickly time runs out each day. I try to focus on the Lord and His Word and figure out the few things in life He really wants me to do. Every day—including this one—offers me a hundred distractions, not just bad things, but good things. I tell myself that I must say no to the vast majority of good things that I might be able to say yes to those very few things God really has for me, including during my free time.

Jesus says to Martha in Luke 10: “Few things are necessary, really only one. Mary has chosen the better portion and it will not be taken from her.” May that be true of us too, and may we redeem the time God has given us, for His glory!”

www.epm.org.

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Articles

Urgent or Important? How Will You Know?

by Jon Acuff
written by Jon Acuff

More than likely, you’ve spent most of your life choosing to do more than is possible and beating yourself up for not being able to keep up.

 

“I should be able to handle all of this. Yes, I’ve added a new goal to my life that I care about. Yes, I’m trying to put a new daily action into an already crowded calendar, but I should be able to handle it all. Yes, I moved to Atlanta to take care of my ill father-in-law, but I should be able to carry on like nothing has changed.”

I work with an organization called Brightpeak and we see people approach their personal finances with the same “must do everything” attitude. Young couples think that in order to be financially responsible they have to measure every penny, predict every possible issue, work 17 side hustles and know exactly how much they’re spending on celery. They think they can and should be able to do it all when it comes to their money.

You know deep down you can’t accomplish everything, but there’s still a part of you, a part run by shame, that thinks you’re one or two apps away from doing it all. This is why chronic starters are always reading books about time management. Perhaps if we sliced the day just a little differently or combined an audiobook with the treadmill while also flossing, we could manage to get it all done.

Our attempts to do too much feel noble and honorable. Look at us, tirelessly working toward burnout, reducing the quality of everything because we insisted we can do everything. We can share that approach with honor on Instagram. That’s the grind. That’s the hustle.

We often do this because we’ve rolled forward some bad habit we learned in high school. You could pull off an all-nighter when the final product was a ten-page essay on the effects of trade restrictions during the Civil War. It’s a little harder to cram for something like your quarterly sales numbers or your weight. Eating a week’s worth of kale in a single night because you’re trying to get back on track with a diet is a bad plan.

At some point this catches up with you. You miss a flight and the whole fragile system falls apart. A soccer practice runs late and the plan collapses. One meeting takes too long and that dominoes into the rest of your day. A rotund family of groundhogs moves into your yard because the height of the grass provides tactical ground cover from neighboring red-tailed hawks.

Something fails, and in that moment we feel shame.

We don’t pull grace out of our pocket and cut ourselves slack. No, on the contrary, most people quit right there. Not just the extra thing that proved to be too much—we give up on the whole goal.

That’s the truly terrible part of trying too much. You don’t just drop the bonus item and carry on with your goal. You drop every ball you’re juggling when one gets out of sync.

When you can’t do it all and you won’t be able to, you feel ashamed and give up.

Or you pick a strategy and decide in advance what things you’re going to bomb.

When you choose in advance what those things will be, you remove the sting of shame. The surprise effect of shame pointing out something you’re bad at is removed. Instead of reacting in shock at some ball you’ve dropped, you get to say, “Oh, that ball I put down on purpose before the game even started? Thanks for noticing!”

It will feel uncomfortable at first, it always does. But the long term benefits are worth the short term pain.

What’s a practical example of this principle at work? Well, every November, churches should sit their staffs down and pick which things they won’t focus on in December. We tend to act like December is a month just like May, even though the truth is that Christmas is the Super Bowl for most churches. It’s your busiest season.

What if instead of burning out staff, you asked each member to name five things they wouldn’t work on until January? What if you asked them to choose five things they’d bomb until the rush was over of Christmas?

Can you imagine what that would do to morale?

You can’t do everything.

I don’t care how productive you are or how efficient. Some things are going to fall through the cracks.

Use strategy and pick those things ahead of time.

Strategy always beats shame.

www.acuff.me. Used by permission. 

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Articles

Why Is Your Work Never Done?

by Carey Nieuwhof
written by Carey Nieuwhof

Ever feel like your work is never finished?

You can’t quite stop working at home. You wake up most mornings feeling like you’re just stepping back onto the treadmill that never stops.

On rare occasions, you think you’re done (at least for now), but then you head out for dinner or take a walk only to start thinking about all the different ways you could have tackled the situation at work. Suddenly you’re not ‘off’ anymore.

Even on vacation, you don’t really feel free. Work is on your mind, even when you’re a thousand miles away from it.

More and more leaders feel like their work is never done.

The challenge, of course, is that the more you feel like your work is never finished, the closer you edge to feeling finished.

Why is that?

Well, there are a number of factors at work.

This is a far greater problem for people today than it ever was for our parents or grandparents. Things have changed radically since the 60s and even since the 90s.

Some of the factors at work are beyond your control: to fight them is like fighting gravity.

But there’s one thing you can change, and it’s the #1 reason your work is never done.

First the reasons why it’s so difficult, which are the factors you can’t really change because they’re cultural, not personal.

The more you feel like your work is never finished, the closer you edge to feeling finished.

Flex Hours

Flex hours were supposed to liberate people from the tyranny of 8 to 4 or 9 to 5. And some extend, they did.

A defined start and finish time to work left a lot of office workers feeling like they lived in an arbitrary prison. After all, why should a responsible employee have to sit behind a desk or cubicle when they could be at their child’s school play and get their work done earlier or later?

It all makes perfect sense.

Except that when there’s no clean start and clean finish to work, there’s no clean start or clean finish to work. Everything gets lost in the messy mud of “did I really do enough?”

There’s definitely a group of people who take advantage of flex hours to cheat their employers. But I suspect there’s an even larger group of responsible people who end up doing more because there are no longer any clear boundaries.

Flexible hours really means many people just work more hours.

Your Work Isn’t Tangible

If you work at an auto plant or even at Starbucks, there’s a tangibility to work that almost no one in an office, firm or church experiences.

You start your shift and produce X number of SUV steering wheels or Frappuccinos, and you’re done. Five hours after your shift ends nobody’s thinking, “I wonder if I should be installing more steering wheels right now.”

The challenge with knowledge workers (pretty much all office, ministry workers and a growing number of entrepreneurs) is that nobody’s quite sure how to measure what we do, including us.

Sure, you can measure bank balances, attendance, customer acquisition, growth rates and the like. But how do you really measure what you do in a day?

It’s harder to find a sense of accomplishment when you met with someone for an hour and there was no defined outcome.

Maybe you should have a dozen more meetings like that. Or maybe none. Who knows?

If you’re a preacher or writer like me, who knows whether what you did accomplished anything? Sure, over the long haul you’ll see results, but every sermon could be ‘better’ and every article could be more polished or have stronger ideas.

It’s just so intangible.

The intangibility of ministry creates a tangible angst in many leaders.

More than a few people compensate by looking for other wins in their lives that are measurable. That’s why I love cutting my lawn and cleaning my car. There’s a before and after. The results are clear.

At work, they’re never that clear.

As a result, you feel like you’re never done.

The Mission Is Endless

Adding to the sense of never being done many of us experience is the size of the mission facing us.

In church, there are always more people to reach. Even if your church is the largest in town, most of your town doesn’t attend church and the majority of those people likely don’t have a growing relationship with Christ.

In business, there are always more opportunities.  Even if your company is on a 30% growth curve, somebody down the road is experiencing 10x growth. And there are 7 billion people on the planet anyway to reach anyway, right?

A lot of us have an endless mission. There’s just always more.

The problem with having ‘more’ as a standard is that more has no end point.

You never feel done because, well, you aren’t.

Your Work Lives In Your Pocket

Previous generations have lived with intangible work and an endless mission. Arguably they handled it better than we’re handling it.

Why? Well, one reason is they never carried phones.

Your challenge is your work lives in your pocket. You carry it with you wherever you go. Even on vacation.

As a result, you feel like your work is never finished.

When you check the time or the weather forecast, you can’t help but notice the eighteen unread emails that have piled up in the last hour.

Co-workers text you at dinner. Friends ping you while you’re watching the game.

Add a laptop into the mix, and you’re never off when you’re off.

The line between work and home isn’t just blurred, it’s gone.

Thanks to phones and laptops, the line between work and home isn’t just blurred, it’s gone.

The #1 Reason You Feel Like Your Work Is Never Finished

All of the reasons listed above are huge factors in how we feel day to day and why the struggle is real.

But none of them is the key reason you feel like you’re never done.

You know what is?

It’s this: You feel like you’re work is never finished because you don’t have a strategy.

What you need is a strategy to figure out how to handle the pressures of flex hours, intangible work, an endless mission and your constantly buzzing phone.

After all, none of us can go back to 1974 when no one had a phone and office hours were office hours. And probably many of us won’t work at an auto plant or in retail where there are clear lines.

As a result, self-leadership has become critical. Most of us have no idea how to lead ourselves.

If someone asked you right now What’s you strategy for handling the constant pressure of work, what would your answer be?

Most leaders I know would have no answer.

Frankly, I didn’t either until ten years ago.

Self-leadership has become critical, and most of us have no idea how to lead ourselves.

www.careynieuwhof.com. Used by permission.

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Articles

What Would You Do with an Extra 1000 Hours This Year?

by Carey Nieuwhof
written by Carey Nieuwhof

So here’s a question that sounds a little far-fetched, but hear me out. It’s really not. 

Would you:

  • Read your kids bedtime stories most night?
  • Have a regular date night with your spouse?
  • Develop your speaking and preaching to new levels?
  • Read books?
  • Work out?
  • Finally get those long term projects done at work and at home?
  • Take up a hobby?

I’m talking about 1000 hours in the middle of raising kids, working full time, running the kids to soccer and leading a growing ministry or business. I’m talking about real life.

I found those 10000 hours a year over a decade ago, and I’ve enjoyed them every year since.

I also believe it’s possible for you to carve 1000 extra hours out of 2018.

As some of you know, a few times a year I offer an online course called The High Impact Leader. In the course, I outline the principles and strategies I’ve used to help me gain about 3 hours a day in productivity, and I share three of them below.

I came by it honestly, because, for the first decade of ministry, I worked way too many hours as our church grew.

Ironically, even though our church was less than half the size it is now, I worked more hours than I work today.

Plus I never felt like I had the time to write books, blog, podcast or speak to leaders in the wider church or even optimally hang out with my family. I was working way more hours but at a fraction of my actual capacity in terms of results.  All of it led me to burn out after 10 years in ministry.

By the grace of God (and I mean that), I recovered from burnout.

But as soon as I began to recover, I realized that I had to develop a new rhythm and pattern. If I returned to my old ways I knew I would simply end up in the same place.

New Normal = Less Time, More Results

As I tried to find that new normal, I invested a lot of time and thousands of dollars in coaching and counseling to figure out new patterns that could make me far more effective and productive leading at a higher level.

I knew that reaching more people couldn’t equal more hours. Because if it did, I was toast.

As I gained new insights into time, energy and priority management, I was able to work fewer hours and get far more accomplished.

Not only did we start reaching more people than ever at our church, but I discovered time to do other things like write books, blog, launch podcasts, speak to church leaders and have more time at home with my wife and kids.

So, how do you arrive at 1000 hours a year you ask?

Simple. Just make changes that add up to 3 hours a day in increased effectiveness. That’s what happens when you learn how to stop the interruptions, work in a focused way, learn how to say no nicely, and build your calendar around your top priorities, your peak energy and focus zones and start doing what you’re best at when you’re at your best.

Gaining back 3 hours a day adds up to 1095 additional productive hours a year.

It’s more than possible.

So how do you find 1000 hours to lead with much greater impact in life and leadership?

1. Admit You’ve Got The Time

So many leaders just assume they don’t have the time to do what they want to do. It’s even reflected in the way we talk.

Think about it: how many times in the last month have you caught yourself saying or thinking I don’t have the time for that? 

I realized that, over time, that phrase had become one of my most frequently uttered responses anytime someone asked me to do anything new or extra.

Get involved in a new project? Sorry, I don’t have the time for that. 

Take on one more event? Sorry, I really don’t have the time. 

Come over for dinner Friday? Man, I’d love to. I just don’t have the time. 

Then one day I woke up and realized…all high impact people I admire who produce so many great things with their life don’t get any special treatment. They get 24 hours in a day. Just like me. Just like you. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Think about it: it’s not like when your church grows to 10x the size, somebody gives you 10x more hours. We all get the same amount of time.

So I made a key shift that helped me so much.

I stopped saying that I don’t have the time. And I started admitting I didn’t make it.

That sounds like a small thing, but if you do it consistently, it can be revolutionary.

Try it for a week. Stop saying you don’t have the time (because you do). Start admitting you didn’t make it.

That will force you to have some hard conversations with yourself when you realize the most productive person on planet earth got the same hours you did today.

You may not want to always say you didn’t make the time out loud. After all, if your mom invites you to dinner and you tell her you’re not going to make the time, well…that’s not great at all.

But you should admit it to yourself.

When you (silently) admit you aren’t going to make the time, it forces you to ruthlessly evaluate your priorities. You’ll realize that never making time for your mom, or your most important priorities—or a life dream—is a mistake.

And when you’re dead honest with yourself about not making the time to work out, or do proper sermon prep, or have a date night with your wife, or work on your top priorities it’s so much easier to change.

Begin here: Stop saying you don’t have the time. Start admitting you didn’t make it.

2. Stop Cheating Your Gift

You’re gifted at something.

It might be communication or strategic thinking. It could be music or administration. Bottom line, your gifting is what you’re naturally best at.

When you’re gifted at something, that also means it’s easier for you to do that thing that it is for most people. You can likely do it faster and with far greater ease than most.

And that’s exactly how leaders get trapped. Under constant time pressure, leaders who are good at say, preaching, might give their best time away to meetings, email, projects and other pressing tasks knowing that they can probably write a decent message after hours or in the cracks of a busy week.

Instead of blocking out 10 or 20 hours to study, pray, research, wordsmith, test ideas and even practice, too many preachers whip something off quickly and let it go at that. What happens when you do that year after year after year?

Well, you use your gift. But you never develop it. And as a result, you cheat your gift. You will be good. But you will never be great.

Now don’t miss this. Once you know your key gifting, developing it is the key to growth.

I know you’re thinking…but I don’t have 10 or 20 hours to develop my gift.

I get that. But here’s what happens when you actually budget the time.

First, it forces you to ruthlessly evaluate all your priorities and eliminate so many things you’re merely good at, but don’t have the potential to be great at. As our church has grown and my leadership has developed, I’ve stopped doing almost everything except communicating, casting vision, honing strategy and leading a handful of people close to me.

Second, having a teamwork in the area of each member’s key giftedness is a church or organization’s key to growth.

If your gift is leadership development and you spend most of your time developing leaders, you will develop an amazing leadership culture.

If your gift is structure, you’ll be able to scale and organize as you grow. Or, if your gift is preaching, you’ll get so much better when you focus.

And as a result, you can (and probably will) grow.

3. Stop Reacting

Ever notice your Monday to-do list rarely gets accomplished on a Monday…or sometimes even by Friday?

Too many leaders remain baffled at why this happens day after day, week after week.

I’m a huge technology fan, but technology isn’t helping you and me when it comes to keeping your priorities straight.

Work life these days is a series of constant interruptions, from the person who knocks at your door or cubicle wanting ‘just five minutes of your time’ to a constant flood of emails, text messages and phone calls.

And you know what every one of those interruptions does?

It pushes somebody’s else’s priorities ahead of yours.

Think about it. Nobody ever asks you to accomplish your priorities; they only ask you to accomplish theirs.

Which is why it’s so hard to get things done.

If you want to lead with high impact, decide that you will not succumb to constant interruptions.

Decide ahead of time how to spend your time. Block and tackle your key priorities. Schedule them in your calendar. Ignore email. Shut your office door. Turn off notifications on your phone. And get what matters most done.

When I started doing this (I’ll show you in the course how to calendar this and how to say no nicely), it revolutionized my productivity.

Here’s what hit home. If you don’t decide how to spend your time, someone else will decide how to spend it for you.

I just decided I needed to steward my time the way I steward money and resources.

www.careynieuwhof.com. Used by permission. 

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Articles

Will There Be Time-Travel in Heaven?

by Randy Alcorn
written by Randy Alcorn

Even though I believe we’ll live in time in Heaven, God is certainly capable of bending time and opening doors in time’s fabric for us. Perhaps we’ll be able to travel back and stand alongside angels in the invisible realm, seeing events as they happened on Earth. Maybe we’ll learn the lessons of God’s providence through direct observation. Can you imagine being there as Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount? Perhaps you will be.

Want to see the crossing of the Red Sea? Want to be there when Daniel’s three friends emerge from the fiery furnace? It would be simple for God to open the door to the past.

Because God is not limited by time, He may choose to show us past events as if they were presently happening. We may be able to study history from a front-row seat. Perhaps we’ll have opportunity to see the lives of our spiritual and physical ancestors lived out on Earth.

Usually we’re not able to see God’s immediate responses to our prayers, but in Heaven God may permit us to see what happened in the spiritual realm as a result of His answers to our prayers. In the Old Testament an angel comes to the prophet Daniel and tells him what happened as the result of his prayers: “As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you” (Daniel 9:23).

Will God show us in Heaven what almost happened to us on Earth? Will He take us back to see what would have happened if we’d made other choices? Perhaps. Will the father whose son had cerebral palsy see what would have happened if he’d followed his temptation to desert his family? Would this not fill his heart with gratitude to God for His sovereign grace?

Will I see how missing the exit on the freeway last night saved me from a crash? Will I learn how getting delayed in the grocery store last week saved my wife from a fatal accident? How many times have we whined and groaned about the very circumstances God used to save us? How many times have we prayed that God would make us Christlike, then begged Him to take from us the very things He sent to make us Christlike? How many times has God heard our cries when we imagined He didn’t? How many times has He said no to our prayers when saying yes would have harmed us and robbed us of good?

Perhaps we’ll see the ripple effects of our small acts of faithfulness and obedience. Like Scrooge in A Christmas Carol and George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life, perhaps we’ll see how we affected others, and how living our lives differently might have influenced them. (May God give us the grace to see this now while we can still revise and edit our lives.)

If we believe in God’s sovereignty, we must believe God would be glorified through our better understanding of human history. We’ll no longer have to cling by faith to “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God” (Romans8:28, NASB). We will see history as definitive documentation of that reality.

Does this discussion seem to you a bit bizarre? Consider it further. Surely you agree that God is capable of sending resurrected people back in time or of pulling back the curtain of time and allowing us to see the past. If He couldn’t do this, He wouldn’t be God. So the question is whether He might have good reasons to do so. One reason might be to show us His providence, grace, and goodness in our lives and the lives of others. Wouldn’t that bring God glory? Wouldn’t it cause us to praise and exalt Him for his sovereign grace? This is surely a high and God-glorifying response. Couldn’t this fit His revealed purpose “that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace” (Ephesians 2:7)?

C. S. Lewis wrote, “Don’t run away with the idea that when I speak of the resurrection of the body I mean merely that the blessed dead will have excellent memories of their sensuous experiences on earth. I mean it the other way round; that memory as we know it is a dim foretaste, a mirage even, of a power which the soul, or rather Christ in the soul . . . will exercise hereafter. It need no longer . . . be private to the soul in which it occurs. I can now communicate to you the fields of my boyhood—they are building-estates today—only imperfectly, by words. Perhaps the day is coming when I can take you for a walk through them.” [i]

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Sermons

Don’t Change My Moment, Change My Life Part One

by Ryan Kramer
written by Ryan Kramer

We find our meaning in life through our life’s story in God. We have a glorious past. We have a beautiful future, a New Heaven, a New Earth and New Creation. We have a powerful present-because of our glorious past and beautiful future we can live with significance and thrive in the now.

Preached at Casas Church. Used by permission.

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Articles

Doctor’s Report: Teen Sex is Killing Our Kids

by Josh McDowell
written by Josh McDowell

Josh McDowell, renowned Bible teacher, apologist and author, posted some absolutely fascinating research on his site. Teen depression and STD’s are of epidemic proportions, and as parents, teachers and concerned Christians, we must persistently and passionately promote sexual purity:

“Dr. Meeker, author of the new book ‘Epidemic’:  ‘In 2003 we are living in the midst of a public health epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases amongst 12- to 18-year-old children, and an epidemic of depression related to much of the promiscuous sexual activity amongst our youth.’”

“‘What I have seen in my beautiful quiet and suburban northern Michigan practice is occurring nationwide, and when I turned to the medical literature two years ago to see if what I was experiencing was unique I found that the Center for Disease Control talks about the hidden epidemic of 15 million Americans getting a new sexually transmitted disease every year and two thirds of them being in people under 25, my patients, your children, the kids on your kids’ basketball teams and soccer teams and ballet recitals.’”

  • “According to the New England Journal of Medicine, one in five Americans 12 years and older test positive for genital herpes.”
  • “Forty-six percent of young teen-age girls after just one episode of intercourse contracts human papilloma virus (HPV), and 14 percent of them will go on to develop signs of cervical cancer, and more women’s lives are given over to cervical cancer every year than to HIV and AIDS.”

“This, she warns ‘is not a time for mothers and fathers and doctors and teachers and politicians to be silent about the sanctity of the life of our teen-agers.’”

“What has been our answer to this out-of-control scourge, she asked.  Condoms.  ‘We have taught 14-, 13-, 12-year-old kids to put condoms on bananas.  We have done this for 15 or 20 years.’”

“In 1960 there were just two sexually transmitted diseases, syphilis and gonorrhea. After 20 years of teaching our kids how to use condoms, we now boast 30 or more sexually transmitted diseases among 12- to 18-year-old children. Condoms have failed as an answer.”

“‘A little over a year ago the National Institutes for Health reviewed all the best condom literature available in the world. They found that condoms, if used 100 percent of the time correctly, may reduce the risk of HIV by 87 percent in men and women, and it may reduce the risk of gonorrhea in men, but for all of the other sexually transmitted diseases which infect beautiful heterosexual children across the country there is insufficient evidence that condoms work at all.’”

“‘Yet we are still teaching condoms and more condoms in our schools. As a physician I consider it malpractice to hand one of my patients a condom and tell them that they will be safe when the NIH doesn’t say so.’”

“‘We have the answer. It is abstinence education. Many opponents of abstinence say it doesn’t work—it does work—all the time. The kids are willing to learn it. Are we willing to teach it?’”

“Sex among girls is leading to an epidemic of cancer, she revealed. ‘The 14-, 15-year-old girl’s cervix cannot handle bacteria and viruses. They flourish and turn into cancer much more quickly than in a 25-year-old.’”

“All of this promiscuous sexual activity among youngsters is having another deadly effect: serious depression and sometimes suicide.”

“‘We are living in an epidemic of depression, where one out of three American teen-agers have thought of killing themselves, much of this related to sexual activity.’”

“‘Are we willing to tell teen-agers that sexual health trumps sexual freedom?’ she asked, adding that we’d better be.”

(Brenna, Phil, “Doctor: Teen Sex Is Killing Our Children,” NewsMax.com, February 3, 2003, www.newsmax.com/

http://www.josh.org. Used by permission.

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Articles

Moments With My Little Girl

by Jack Schull
written by Jack Schull

Every father has a soft spot for his daughter. It doesn’t matter if she is three or thirty-three. The Schull girls are especially cherished by their pop. As a Dad – I get the privilege of investing into my kids – just like you…

Recently on a daddy/daughter date with my 3-year-old, I was reminded of some simple parenting lessons. I’ll admit – sometimes these lessons drift off my radar screen, but on this day they were thrust back front and center. I’m still learning, just like you.

Calista and I spent the day together ~ here’s the observations that struck me…

1.  Questions?… She feels totally at ease to ask me any question – and I mean there is NO shortage of questions. At times, that barrage of inquisitiveness can become frustrating, but I need reminded  – those questions are gifts. It’s a gift that my little girl looks to me for answers, advice and input. She feels totally comfortable to ask me for it. She trusts me. The spiritual implication that struck me is: do I feel totally at ease asking God? Is He the first one I look to for answers and advice? How’s your trust level with God?

2.  Innovation comes pre-wired within children. Sticks become microphones and playground equipment can instantly become an ice cream store. Often as we get older ~ we lose our imagination, our drift toward innovation and settle for the status-quo. When it comes to our spiritual journey ~ have we lost our ability to imagine all of what God can do – how He can use us to impact our world? How’s your creativity & imagination? I love what the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians about God’s imagination. May we dream bigger!

3.  Listening.  I’ve always heard “you have 2 ears and only 1 mouth“. We live in a culture that speaks a lot, but listens less. Have you ever had that moment: you know the one – the moment your child has repeated your name 5-8 times to get your attention? Been there. Listening is what draws relationships closer – knits hearts together. James reminds us that ‘everyone should be quick to listen and slow to speak’ (James 1:19). As I practice intentional listening to Cali – it binds us together. Question is: how quick am I to listen for God’s voice? How about you?

4.  Enter their world. That day I got to do something I rarely do. I got to paint Cali’s nails. Now, that is not something I do all the time. In fact I had different plans in that moment of what we’d do – but it was significant & special to her. I had to leave my world and enter hers. Isn’t that what the Incarnation is all about? God didn’t think that a reconciled relationship with humanity was something we could figure out – so He entered in. Still does. Have you stopped long enough to become aware again of His presence? Thank Him for being in your world. As a parent – how quick are we to enter into our children’s world? It takes time, imagination, listening and even questions.

KEEP LEARNING.

What’s 1 parenting lesson you’ve learned recently?

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