Scheduling some time...

I LOVE CALENDARS! Ok, anyone who knows me knows this. I LIVE for September when the 16 month calendars for the new year come out. I go to Dollar Tree and Michaels and Party City and I stock up. Certain friends of mine know that, in September, they are getting a calendar from me. I don't do holiday gift giving any more, but if you have a birthday in September - March, you can believe that you are probably getting a calendar as a gift - or as part of your gift. Throughout my house - in the den, in the kitchen, in the bedrooms and bathrooms - calendars abound! And I don't get generic calendars - I get travel and big grid and scenery and flowers and quotes/sayings and page-a-day and ... ok, you get the picture.

And then there are the electronic versions: my Outlook, my BlackBerry, my electronic versions of my page-a-day calendars. The calendars that have the 30 minute increments where I can place the minutiae of life in its place - doctors appointments, lunch engagements, theatre outings, vacations, girls-day out with my sistafriends, etc. etc. And with some of them, there are even little reminders that pop up - "so & so's birthday is next week", "don't forget to pay this bill", and one of my favorites that shows up every 6 weeks: "time for a mini-vacation, don't you think?"

So, you would think I'd have it all covered, right? With all those calendars, all those reminders, I should be (as my godsister calls me) the most "together" sista on the planet...right? Well, I'm pretty good. I remember MOST things. But sometimes an item will get put on the Outlook calendar, but not the BlackBerry - or on the BlackBerry calendar, but not the master calendar that is posted on the kitchen wall so my mother can keep up with where I am (or at least, where I am supposed to be) at any given time. I drop the ball occasionally. (Praise God it is not very often, but hey, I ain't perfect!)

Aren't you glad that God is ... perfect, that is. He NEVER forgets an appointment. He NEVER has to be reminded. He NEVER drops the ball. And He doesn't "schedule" us into His busy-ness...He is always there, no matter the hour/day/season/year...ALWAYS. WE are the ones who are too busy for Him. I mean, other than my reminder to join my prayer group at 6:00a every weekday morning and my reminder for Prayer Meeting on Wednesday nights, I am ashamed to say, I don't have any reminders popping up telling me to "go spend some time with your Father." I don't have the note on the calendar, "spend some time in the Word." I'm not saying that I don't do those things, but I am aware that I don't do them as often as I should. [Y'all pray for me!]

There is a book on stewardship that I am slowly re-reading called OVER AND OVER AGAIN. This is a compilation of personal testimonies of how God blesses when we are faithful in our stewardship. Now, most of the time when you hear Christians talk about "stewardship", the assumption is that they are talking about tithing and money. But this book brings out that we are to be faithful stewards of ALL THINGS: including our time, talents, ministry...the list goes on and on. There is a story in the book of how one man's Christian walk was enhanced when he decided to return a "tithe" on his time. For 10% of his day (roughly 2.5 hours), he was going to devote his time to reading the Word and communing one on one with God. [I know, you're like me...thinking..."2.5 hours! Where am I supposed to find 2.5 hours in my day!?"] Well, he made the commitment and his story is amazing. I ain't quite there yet, but as I get older and as I grow in my relationship with Christ, I recognize that I have to do better. My 30 minutes on the phone each morning, communing and praying with fellow believers has blessed me in ways untold and it is the perfect start to the morning. But sometimes, in the busy-ness of the day, that 30 minutes of blessing is gone before lunchtime.

I encourage you today...make time in your busy schedule to commune with YOUR Heavenly Father. Start off slow...5 minutes in prayer in the morning, 5 minutes at lunch, 5 minutes before you go to bed. I am willing to challenge you that as you do it, 5 minutes will become 10, 10 will become 15, and that will (eventually) become 2.5 hours (or more) over the course of the day. See how it changes your life and how you react to the situations that are placed in your way. I bet you (and I) will be blessed...above more than you can ever imagine.

Be blessed.