Day 23 / Timex vs. Big Ben

Doren was a real piece of work. At least according to Cheryl. But now it was over. They had been engaged for eight years. (Yes...you understood every word of that last sentence correctly. Hmmmmmm.)

Anyway, they had been engaged for eight years, and he finally, unceremoniously dumped her. She was not happy. She kept the ring. It was actually quite a rock. The closest look I got at it was kind of a blur as it flew past my head and hit the wall behind me in the church office. With tears and sounds that resembled a Jurassic Park soundtrack, she threw the ring at me and uttered words about Doren that are not fit for print. I don't think she intended to clunk me in the head with the ring, but she was really mad at him. Of course, he was back at his trailer sleeping the whole thing off.

"How did I ever get into a relationship with such a jerk," she cried. "I can’t believe it! I have wasted so much time! My biological clock is ticking you know. It used to sound like a Timex, but now it’s like Big Ben!"

Nice. Every now and then ministry just delivers a classic line, and that one is in my fave five. Timex vs. Big Ben. And the older I get, the more I feel Cheryl’s pain. What about you?

I don’t mean her specific relationship problems...I mean the feeling that time is flying by, that life is somehow getting away, that I want to make the most of my life but I feel like somehow my opportunities are slipping through my fingers like the sands through the hourglass.

Part of Cheryl’s problem was that she felt so foolish. She had invested so much into that relationship, and each decision seemed to be the right one along the way. That is until it ended the way it did. Then, with all eight years in view, the whole thing seemed like such a waste. Can you relate with her at all? Do you ever find yourself thinking about work/career and wondering if it has all been worth it? What about education, hobbies, interests, relationships, or anything else in which you have made a significant investment of your influence, finances, time or service?

How do we go about "making the most of our time" as we are encouraged by the apostle Paul in Ephesians 5:15-17?

1. We must all accept that sometimes we make poor decisions that at the time looked good or right.
   
   
2. There are times when we are making good and right decisions, but we will have to be patient to see the harvest that only the Lord can bring about in his perfect timing.
   
   
3. We need to seek wise counsel from others concerning whether or not we need to make a change in how we are investing our influence, finances, time, and service. One thing is for sure: it would be even worse to get out of a poor investment by impulsively making a worse one!
   
   
4. We must invest daily time and focused energy indulging in the Word of God. We must move beyond treating it like fast food and savor it like a choice buffet of the highest order. As we fill our lives with the word of God, our investments will demonstrate our abundance of His wisdom.

My mom has had a poem hanging on her wall for 54 years. She told me that she bought it from a high school student that was selling them for a couple of bucks back in 1955. She was not a believer at the time, but she just wanted to help a kid trying to raise money for something. But the poem has been a powerful influence in my life.

Only one life, will soon be past.
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

- Don McLaughlin

Day 23 / Time

When my children were in their teens, it seemed like there was always a mountain of laundry to do. In fact, it would get so piled up from time to time, they named it Mount Washmore! One time in particular that I remember, not only had it piled up but our pipes froze and I couldn’t even wash had I not been so far behind. So I loaded Mount Washmore up in the car, went to a coin-operated laundromat, and spent several hours "catching up." I mentioned it to my mom in a passing conversation and she said, "You know, if you don’t get behind, you don’t ever have to catch up."

That was not what I wanted to hear just then. I would have preferred something more along the lines of "There, there, precious darlin'. It happens to all of us." If not that, then something similar. Instead, I was...admonished.

It took me quite a while to get my brain wrapped around that. I had to face the truth that too often I was taking the easy way out and just not doing laundry when I actually did have a few minutes to start a load in the washer or move one over to the dryer. I needed to invest more intentionality when it came to using my time. Oh, I'm not talking about the big important chunks of time, but rather the "little time" we all have that's somewhat discretionary. The ten minutes before we have to leave to go somewhere...the time spent waiting for someone else...that’s the "little time" that I needed to get under control.

In the remake of Willy Wonka & Chocolate Factory, one of the winners of the golden ticket was a girl named Violet. Remember her? She was the champion gum chewer. Do you remember her mother? She would admonish Violet throughout the tour of the Chocolate Factory. She would say to her, "Eyes on the prize, Violet." She didn’t want Violet to be sidetracked from being the champion gum chewer of the world, or the big winner of the Chocolate Factory...although she chose unwisely.

I'm still learning, but I’ve come a long way. Eyes on the prize requires my intentionality during the little time that comes my way in a day. It may not be easy, but it will be best.

- Sheree Yasko Hill

Day 22 / Rascally Rabbits!

Researchers are particularly interested in islands when they are studying the affect of "non-native" species on the "native" environment. New Zealand is a big island, and it is the center of much research.

In the 1800's, sailors from Europe decided to introduce rabbits to New Zealand as a fast-producing, plentiful, edible resource. Within a few decades though, the rabbit population grew into the hundreds of millions, devastating the native plant life and starving out other native species of animals. Something had to be done with the 600,000,000 rabbits! So in the 1950s, a virus that is very lethal to rabbits was introduced (illegally) into New Zealand. The myxomatosis virus was released, and initially it slashed the rabbit population down to a 1/6th of its original number. But the remaining rabbit population became resistant to the virus, and as they survived and thrived, the new population of super-rabbits exploded!

Influence. We underestimate it. We are all injecting things into our environment...an environment designed by God. But are we considering the impact? In God's environment, he created it to be filled with things native to Him and his character. That means that love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control, righteousness, generosity, grace and truth are all native to his environment.

When we introduce more of these elements, God’s harvest of righteousness grows and blesses us all. But when we introduce hate, discouragement, divisiveness, jealousy, covetousness, envy, murder, unfaithfulness, slander, prejudice, favoritism, grudges, an unforgiving spirit, judgmentalism, selfishness, and the like; we are importing "non-native" elements into His environment. The net result is a corrupt, dangerous, and unfulfilling life on this planet.

John 1:10-11 speaks to this issue of environment.

He [Jesus] was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own [people] did not receive him.

This passage is profound. Jesus is light and life. (John 1:4, 9) He came into his world, but it had become so dark and lifeless that it did not recognize him! Surely the Creator is "native" to the creation, but he seemed foreign because, "men loved darkness rather than light and their deeds were evil" (John 3:19). When we are no longer satisfied with the things of God, we begin to develop a tolerance (and eventually an appetite) for things that substitute for God.

Whatever we introduce into our thoughts, will influence our words and deeds. Then our words and deeds influence and shape the environment around us, which in turn influences the people with whom we interact. Take a few moments for three considerations:

1. How can I introduce more of God into my personal thoughts, and what influences will I reduce or eliminate?
   
2. How can I introduce more generosity, humility, and grace into the lives of the people with whom I interact everyday, and what will I reduce or eliminate from those interactions?
   
3. Big Challenge: If you have not given the utmost respect to someone in your family, your work or school, your community, or in the body of Christ, you are withholding something that is "native" to the Christian life, and that is the love of Christ Jesus. This special kind of love is described throughout the Bible, and it is a love that creates an amazing environment in which everyone can thrive.

What is holding you back from loving someone with Christ’s love, and would you feel comfortable if suddenly Jesus started treating you exactly like you are treating this person? If you will not speak to them when you see them, would you feel comfortable if Jesus immediately stopped communicating with you? If you will not smile or offer them a respect-filled greeting when you see them, would you feel loved if Jesus suddenly quit making his face to shine upon you or refused to greet you with respect? If you go out of your way to avoid them, what would you think if Jesus decided to simply avoid you?

Generosity is a very personal and engaging process, and there are many ways to be generous. Giving the funds with which we have been entrusted is one way. But caring for someone fully with a respectful and loving heart may be and even greater demonstration of what the Good Samaritan asked of the Innkeeper.

- Don McLaughlin

Day 22 / Ripple Effects

There’s a Snickers commercial from the 2000 election that makes me laugh even now when I think about it. This guy goes into a voting booth and before he can vote he is visited by an elephant and a donkey, each of whom wants the guy's vote. As the commercial goes on, the guy decides to have a snack because he knows he’ll be a while making his decision. At least it gives the impression that he is really going to think his decision through.

My mom is fond of saying, "Life used to be so much simpler when we just had to choose between chocolate and vanilla." We really do have tons of choices. My kids had more choices to make than I did, and their kids will have even more. What's important for us to remember is that whatever choice we make, we are not the only ones affected. We may tell ourselves that, but the truth of the matter is even little decisions have ripple effects.

Several years ago there was a media storm around Charles Barkley of the NBA. He was quoted as saying something along the lines of never wanting to be looked up to as a role model. Someone else jumped into the storm saying that Barkley didn’t have a choice; whether he wanted it or not, whether he liked it or not, he was a role model for kids. Later on, it was reported that what Barkley had said after his first statement was that parents were to be the role models for their kids. But the nugget of truth is there--whether we want it or not, whether we like it or not, whether we ask for it or not, whether we even know it or not--we are role models for someone. Someone else is always affected by our decisions.

I will be praying that I make wise decisions that bring glory and honor to God.

- Sheree Yasko Hill

Day 21 / Urgent or Important?

There is a school secretary I used to know who had a great sign posted at her desk. The sign said, "Lack of organization or preparation on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."

I love that. I have used it many times in many different situations. It’s not a bad parenting line...partly because it allows for the law of natural consequences. (Just because you’ve put off your science fair project to the last weekend does not have to mean that I will spend every waking minute–-as well as those minutes that I should be asleep--running down weird plants and plant food or the supplies to make a spouting volcano. Lack of organization or preparation on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part. Or how about the frantic phone call that you get because someone left their homework/notebook/gym shoes at home and will you bring it to them?) Please know, however, that I have participated in all of those kinds of things.

I am especially reminded of it whenever I allow something "urgent" to get in the way of the "important" things I need to be doing. There’s a certain amount of that kind of stuff that will happen in the normal course of the day. And then I can get back to what I need to be doing. What I’m talking about is being side-tracked by something or someone that seems urgent so that I take my focus off of what I am supposed to be doing or what I need to be doing. Then when I am held accountable for the "important" stuff, my only defense is that I was tending to someone or something that someone felt was a crisis, and I guess I felt I was the only someone who could tend to it.

I've known folks who lived their lives doing whatever they felt like doing at the time, being (as Eugene Peterson put it in The Message) a "slave to [their] whims." If you read People Magazine (I know, I know...I really just look at it when I'm at the beauty shop) you see example after example of folks caught on film who are slaves to their whims, to the point where in some cases it costs them their lives. I know I can’t be the only one to look at that stuff and think who could live that kind of life on a regular basis? I can only guess that the person living life that way sees it as a "normal" life. Yikes.

Part of doing the right thing and of making good decisions lies in being able to prioritize the important from the urgent. (See, Major, I was listening during the Boundaries workshop...) While I enjoy independence in decision-making, it is still important to me that there is a standard through which I run my decisions.

I’m pretty sure that God would support the sign at the school secretary’s desk.

- Sheree Yasko Hill