Excuses.... excuses... excuses!

Dear Readers,

I just thought that I would share with you something that I have been convicted with recently.

For the past month I have been working at my new job as a toddler teacher at a daycare. I work full time and am gone all day until late in the evening, leaving me with Saturday and Sunday off. I am busy rushing off to work in the morning so I don't pay much attention to my younger siblings during my morning time, and by the time I get home I am too tired and sleepy from my day at work to pay attention to them. I have found myself spending all my day hours just focused on myself and it's ridiculous! I am constantly using the ugly phrase "I am just too busy!"

"How many times a day do I use that sentence?" I thought to myself.
"What if I recorded every time that I said that? What if I calculated the amount and compared it to the number of times that I said the opposite? What if I made it a goal to not say that every day as an excuse? What if I took the time to listen to, or hang out with, or just be with my family?"

What if I made that change?

How many times a day do we find ourselves saying the “I’m too busy” excuse? It’s not like time has shortened the hours of a normal day, or that we are deprived slaves in a giant hamster wheel running for our lives without sleep! If you take a normal day and consecrated one hour that would be 4% of your day.  Just 4% to look your family in the eye and catch up with each member!

I am sure that all of you have heard of this illustration, but I will post it here anyways.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. 

When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.  He then asked the students if the jar was full.  They agreed that it was.
So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.  He shook the jar lightly.  The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.  He then asked the students again if the jar was full.  They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.  Of course, the sand filled up everything else.  He asked once more if the jar was full.  The students responded with a unanimous "yes."
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.  The students laughed.
"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, " I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.  The golf balls are the important things-your God, family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions-things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.  The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car.  The sand is everything else-the small stuff."
"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.  The same goes for life.  If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.  Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.  Play with your children.  Take time to get medical checkups.  Take your partner out to dinner.  Play another 18.  There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.  Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter.  Set your priorities.  The rest is just sand."
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled.  "I'm glad you asked.  It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend." -------------


Now- I would spend 2/3rds of that coffee time with family and 1/3 with friends, but the point is clear and totally convicting. How much time am I wasting? How much time am I spending pretending and giving excuses and just sitting around after work feeling exhausted and "tired?"

Anyhow- I just felt soooooooo convicted by this and I felt like sharing it with the rest of you because I think it's time to change! How about starting an Operation No Excuses? How about choosing this moment to be the best person we can be to our family, our church, our friends, and our community?

How about making a change instead of making an excuse?

Are you with me? Then let's lock up our excuses and throw the keys out the window!


Ready -----   Set ----------- Toss!


Chao for now-

Lindsay