I work a full time job, but instead of working five 8-hour days, I work four 10s. Pros - Wednesdays off for a midweek break. Cons - I don't get done with work until 6:15 PM, and usually not out the door until 6:30 PM, so after work meetings at church and/or making dinner and not eating at 9PM gets tricky. And speaking of church: Life Teen Core Team Member, Confirmation Team, Life Teen Plus coordinator until June, Guatemala Mission Trip (adult and teen) coordinator, Pastoral Council, Long Range Planning Committee. Enough said. Add to that the weekly Theology of the Body study group I attend (and host), trying to participate in our state PT Chapter's Pediatric Special Interest Group, having season ticket with my sister to the Sounders FC and somewhere in there attempting to have some semblance of a social life - not always successful.
And while you may look at my list and tell me that I'm crazy, and I probably am, the truth is many of us are juggling way too much on our plates. And I will be the first to tell you, in all honesty, that when the stress piles up, the things get busy, the thing that is the first to go out the window is the one thing I should be focused on the most and that is prayer and my faith. I'm not talking about going to Mass or everything I do at church. It's the everyday deepening of prayer and a faith life that I "just never seem to have time for." The quotes are important because of the importance of discerning whether or not we really don't have time, or just think that we don't. I found this quote on a website that I thought spoke powerfully to this: “You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.” ― Charles Buxton. And it's true. Last Tuesday, I went with my sister and a friend of ours to an event entitled "An Evening with the Archbishop" sponsored by Amici, a local young adult organization. Archbishop Sartain asked the group how many people made purposeful quiet time with God every day...a few hands. Then he asked how many people had pockets of time they could take advantage of and devote to God and prayer and didn't... a lot more hands.
My parish is a stewardship parish, so I grew up there hearing all the time about being a steward of time, talent and treasure. Of the three I think time is glossed over more frequently than talent or treasure. We read in the Bishop's letter that:
As Christian stewards, we receive God's gifts gratefully, cultivate them responsibly, share them lovingly in justice with others, and return them with increase to the Lord.
Our time that we have is a gift, the question is, how do we choose to use it? When am I taking the time that I could be spending in prayer to play a computer game for hours on end? When am I taking time that I could be being active to watch a move in front of the TV? When am I taking time that could be spent making dinner to get a quick pizza and eat that for a few days?
Being that good steward, making those smart decisions can be very challenging, but it is at the core of simplicity in life. Find what we are passionate about and invest time in those areas, learn to say "no" when that one more thing will be one thing too many, work to keep relationships, and make prayer the number one priority.
For me, right now, that means knowing that my service on both the Long Range Planning and Pastoral Council will end when their terms are done and will not be renewed. It means making spending at least 15 minutes a day in quiet prayer with God and making that priority - this will be my personal goal of the week, though one I know I will continue to work on long beyond this week. How do you simplify through being a good steward of your time?
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