BusyNESS to the point of craziNESS...

How many times in the past week have you spoke to someone & you asked them, "How are you?" and their response was, "Okay...we've just been so busy." I can't even count how many times I've heard that type of response in the past week let alone the past month. It's almost to the point where you know that is going to be the response & you don't even want to ask, "How are you?" because that's the only response you get. You hear all about what the person or family has been doing...as in how many activities they have done in a day...not how the person or people are actually doing mentally, emotionally, or spiritually.

I have notice that even I have used the "busy" reponse a few times in the past month because we have been doing more things...and you know what....I don't like it. I know I may be an "alien" for saying this but it's true. It's not that me or my family is lazy. We just don't think that being a family consists of attending 100 activities a week. And no...activities are not bad...but like with everything else in life...balance is key. We should have enough time available to just "be" with our family members & friends & be available to help someone in need. It's hard to do that if you're just running from one activity to the next all day long 7 days a week.

The following devotion from Dr. David Jeremiah reflects on this more.

Love Is Spelled T-i-m-e
"By night on my bed I sought the one I love; I sought him, but I did not find him."
Song of Solomon 3:1

Recommended Reading
John 13:34-35

A couple decades ago, Christian publishers released waves of books on marriage, family, and childrearing from a biblical perspective. Many of them countered a popular cultural notion that championed quality of time over quantity of time in relationships. Not so, Christian authors said: Quantity of time spent in relationships is just as important as quality of time, if not more so. Love, some suggested, could be spelled t-i-m-e.

It won't come as a surprise to modern married couples that the first spat in the marriage of King Solomon and his Shulamite bride was over the issue of time. Shulamith expected Solomon home at a certain hour and he showed up in the middle of the night. And Shulamith was too offended to get up and let him in. They patched things up in due course, but the tension they experienced is a warning to anyone in any relationship: There is no substitute for time spent together. Whether in marriage, childrearing, a relationship with God, or just good friends, growth and intimacy grow over time.

Consider your relationships today: Are you giving the people you love the time they deserve?

"We have been too busy chopping wood to take time out to sharpen the ax." Vance Havner

Recent Random Photos

Busted...again!

So I was standing in a local Women of Joy conference last weekend praising the Lord when I heard him say, "You're not talking." I'm thinking what? I talk all the time! Well, maybe not, all the time, but enough! Then I heard God clearly say (yes, Anna & Jordyn...on my purple phone :o), "You haven't been telling people about me or what I have done in your life & what I want to do in their lives. You need to start writing again." And of course my response was, "You know I love to write God, but I've been a little short on time these days." Needless to say, He wasn't impressed by that.

Right now writing is probably the best way for me to "talk" to people about the things God wants me to say. Sometimes I can go a whole day without talking to anyone but my husband, my children, & their bus drivers. And it's not because I'm antisocial. If you know me at all, you know that I am the exact opposite. It just happens to be the season of life that I am in right now. Most of my "work" happens in my home or in my van which limits my face to face time with people. I am not complaining, in fact, I think this is just training for the next "season" in my life, but it still doesn't excuse me from sharing God's love & hope with others. So I will be blogging more. I hope to post at least twice a week. So stay tuned...the "talker" is back! :o)

Getting ready to get ready...

Well, I really wanted to get to my blog in Jan. & post so I could get on a roll of posting at least once a month but it didn't happen. Not that I didn't have oodles & oddles of things to say because I do & I know that some of you are very "patiently" waiting for my Christmas miracle post, but I have had a lot of "processing" to do. Now that I have had time to ponder & process, I am ready to write. However, there is something I have to do first before I can write about it here. I plan to do that this week so I am very close to getting ready to get ready to write the post that a lot of you have been waiting for. Thanks so much for being patient! :o)