Time…. I recently saw a video of Mary Kay Ash, the founder of
Mary Kay Inc, describe time as a daily bank account deposit of $86,400. She asked what you would do if you had an
account where $86,400 was deposited daily, but none of it could roll over from
day to day. How would you spend it? And
how would you feel about whatever was lost because it hadn’t been spent by the
end of the day? Her words really made me
think. You see, 86,400 is the number of seconds we have in each 24-hour day.
This week is my last week home for the summer before school
starts. Right now, I am “Summer Kristi.” For several years that is how we have jokingly
referred to the chic who shows up in my life at the end of May who cooks more
often, cleans our home more often, laughs more, and has a decreased level of
stress. I love teaching and I love where
I teach, but that concept of time seems even more precious to me this
week. Actually, it has seemed a little
more precious to me all summer. I’ll
admit- I have often viewed time more as a curse than a blessing. That is because usually I am running late for
something! I get frustrated at how
quickly time slips away or how there is never enough of it.
But this summer, I have spent a huge chunk of my time with a
toddler. A toddler who seems to be
growing quickly, exclaiming new phrases every day, learning a new trick each
week, running more, snuggling less, and becoming less dependent on his momma
each day. At the beginning of the summer
I could see just how quickly he was changing, and I made a promise to myself
that I was going to soak up as much of it as I possibly could. I decided I would be much more mindful of how
many hours I mindlessly lost on social media, or in front of the TV and instead
I would focus on playing ball, walking around our yard discovering things,
climbing up and down our deck steps 7,392 times a day, pulling a red wagon,
splashing in the pool, reading books that I could recite from memory, snuggling
at nap times, and giggling through meals.
I even spent some time just sitting quietly watching… marveling at the
little personality he has, how he interacts, and how his mind works.
I cannot say that I been a master of this plan all summer- some days I have really stunk at it. Some days I have become frustrated at his level of “busy,” some days he just makes me flat exhausted, some days I still had TONS of things to accomplish and reverted to feeling like time was a curse. However, this summer of watching my time has truly reminded me of what a blessing TIME is. We can’t buy time back, but we can give it to others freely. Time is a gift, but we have to choose to accept it. Time doesn’t cost us anything, but it is more precious than diamonds.
As I step back in to my classroom on Friday, my prayer is
that I will remember how precious time is.
That I will use my work time wisely, that I will use the time with my
students to give them my best each day, that I will make the most of my time in
the evenings with my family, that I won’t give up on my time with God when I am
exhausted, and that I will use every one of the 86,400 seconds He gives me each
day to be grateful for this life He allows me to live.
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under
the heavens;”
Ecclesiastes
3:1 (NIV)
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