By Doug Creamer
Time
We are moving forward into January. There are fewer holiday lights shining at night. Most of us have finally taken the Christmas tree down. The after-Christmas blues can be seen on people’s faces as we return to work and our normal routines of life. Holiday treats have disappeared for another year, replaced with healthy eating. Many have turned their attention to the next national holiday, Super Bowl Sunday!
While most people are looking forward with great anticipation to what the new year holds for us, we have to remember that others are struggling. I have talked with some people who have been dealing with sickness. There are plenty of cold and flu bugs being passed around, and those people just want to get better and return to normal. Some have talked about the cough hanging on for weeks, while others say they have shaken it off only to get sick again a week or two later.
I have talked with neighbors and friends who are struggling with the loss of loved ones and found the holiday season only a stark reminder of their pain and loss. Our family has been dealing with the loss of loved ones and the pain has carried over into the new year. People say that time heals all wounds, but the pain that comes with the loss of loved ones has a way of surfacing over and over again, especially during the holiday season. So remember to hug your loved ones and treasure the moments you get to share.
Even though some are struggling, time continues to move forward. It’s a reality that none of us can escape. Are we using our time wisely? The biggest lie we have been sold is that we can multitask. You can’t multitask. Your brain can only focus on one thing at a time. You can fold laundry and watch TV or eat and watch a movie, but you can’t do many other things at the same time.
Some people may think that watching TV or a movie or even scrolling social media is wrong, but it’s not. We need to allow ourselves some down time. We need to give ourselves a break from the daily pressures of life. We need to slow down and catch our breath. We just need to enforce some reasonable limits on these kinds of activities so we can engage with each other and spend quality time together.
Time is not our enemy; it is really a gift. We have to make the choices of how we enjoy the gift of time. We can’t always be working or trying to knock things off our “to do” lists. We need to allow time to read so we can stimulate our minds, to exercise and take care of our bodies, to pursue hobbies and personal interests which allows us to grow as individuals, and sometimes to just sit and be lazy or to lay in bed a little longer on a Saturday morning.
We get to choose how we use the gift of time. One of the choices needs to be spending time with God. Some people think that you can only talk with God on your knees. I like to talk with Him while I am walking and while I sit on my front porch. The important thing is that we invite Him into our daily lives. He wants us to become more aware of His presence. He promises to be with us all the time. We are often so distracted by daily life that we don’t notice that He is right there with us.
Choosing to spend time with God and reading His Word will guide us as we move forward this year. There will be good times and challenges, but we can handle them if we invite God into our lives. We can make room for Him by our choices. He only goes where He is invited and that is our choice.
I want to encourage you to make the choice to invite God into your time. It’s easy to allow time to slip through our fingers. We have to make a conscious choice to watch our time and use our time wisely. There are so many things we want to do in life, bucket lists we want to accomplish before our time is up. We can do many of them if we make the right choices. The wisest choice we can make is to invite God into our lives and allow Him to guide us. Time is God’s gift to you. Open it. Enjoy it. Spend some of it every day with Him.
Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com
