Journey, Day 9, Your precious time

Graduations are coming up in the next month or two. College acceptance letters are out. Vacation plans and summer organization plans are consuming all of the "lazy days of summer" before summer is even here, and God's daughters are gasping for air. There are game schedules and practice schedules and volunteer schedules, and some days are just flat out spent going from one thing to the next. We seem to be proud of our busyness and are passing on frantic expectations to the next generation. Here's the bad news. IT'S NOT GOOD.

Want to know what you and the generation after you will remember as FORMATIVE?  What things will give strength and health of character?  Unhurried conversation and meaningful connection; Laughing together and taking a walk; Stopping off to sit by a lake or get ice cream.  No phones.  No Internet.  Conversation that is filled with actual listening and eye contact.  

This post is a warning to all who have the tendency to say yes to too many things. Your kids, your family, your friends and your own relationship with God will benefit from you learning to stop committing your precious time to things that just eat up your precious time.  Today is all you've actually got. Tomorrow is out of reach and yesterday is gone. How will you choose to live as God's child THIS DAY?  

"LORD, help us to actually invest in living this day well.  Please help us value our importance and our performance less, and your presence more.  Help us to see people and to care enough to listen to them, as you would.  Amen."