Chucking Time

"There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace." Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

I was thinking about camping this morning. Tomorrow is the last day of school, and after that, we have day after day of no alarm clock in the morning. I would be lying if I didn't say I was looking forward that. It made me think of camping, where we don't even use a clock the entire week we are camping. We wake when the sun is up and we feel rested. We make a meal when we feel hungry, we play when we feel the energy building up and wanting to get out. We build a fire and gather round it when we want some together time, and we go to bed when our body says that we are tired. Not once do we consult with a clock first to see if it's okay.

As I read the verses above, I noticed that it doesn't say anything specific regarding the time. It doesn't say to check with the clock first, or check with the calendar to see if it's the right time of year. There is a time for everything, and the beauty is that time really can be what we make of it. As we're nearing the summer vacation I think of bedtime. The kids have a strict bedtime during the school year, they need their rest badly. But when there is no school we can be more flexible, we can send them to bed when they seem to need it, not so much according to a clock. Think of all the activities we do according to the time the clock says it is. Sure, there are things like work and school that need to be dictated by a time to keep everyone on task, but think about your home life. You get home at 4:00, you have to make dinner because you need to eat by 6:00 at the latest. Then you need to hurry and get the clean up done because that show you like to watch is on at 7:00. You hurriedly tuck the kids into bed at 8:30 because something else is coming on in a few minutes and you hate to miss a little bit. At 10:00 you watch a bit of the news, and then you turn in because it's only 7 1/2 hours until the alarm is going off, and you must get a good night sleep- regardless of whether or not you're actually tired.

I say it's time to chuck the time. It's time to stop living our lives according to the clock, or according to the calendar. How often do we look at a day on the calendar that is a week away and think about how busy that day is going to be. We get stressed simply thinking about those moments that are a whole 7 days away. Instead, lets live in the now! Let's enjoy the time we have with those we love and make the most of it. Let's stop relying so heavily on the clock and just let life happen. I'll tell you, when I am spending my quiet time with God in the evenings, sometimes three hours will go by in what seems like seconds, and before I know it, it is well past my bedtime. Yet I still wake in the morning refreshed and ready to go. Had I sat down for my "God Time" with a schedule in hand, it wouldn't have been near as great of an experience, and I wouldn't have just been able to enjoy being with God. I would have kept glancing at the clock, anticipating the next scheduled event in my life. Too often we lose the greatest moments in our lives because we're so busy looking ahead to the next. We're so excited about the great dessert that's coming that we don't enjoy the excellent dinner that's already before us.

It's time to go camping. It's time to just live every moment as if it's the last moment, and enjoy it to its fullest. It's time to give our time to God and ask Him to help us use it to the fullest, and use it to His advantage. There is a time for everything, it just doesn't always require the use of a clock.