First Baptist Church of Herndon

Who has time?

Linda Soller | Sep 26, 2012

Anyone who knows me will tell you I am organized. You have to be organized to get a lot done in this busy world.  But I am not as organized as I used to be. As a young wife, mother, career woman, and general busy body I was super organized. I did not know what it meant to just sit and do nothing.  This condition of hyper activity stretched my time management and organizational skills to the max. When I think back to that time it is a little exhausting. To be very honest, I have to admit that by cramming so much into my days and nights I missed out on a lot.  I was trying hard to be everything to everyone. I did not know how to say no and the few times I tried it I was consumed with guilt. You would have thought I was the only one who could do what needed to be done.  Experience has taught me that “no” can be a good word, a generous word.

I was working in retail when I fell in to the pattern of grocery shopping on Sunday mornings. The store was quiet and I was not scheduled to work. In my mind there were really no other good options. My time management thought process said it was better to have a routine. Even after I got out of retail and had more regular hours the Sunday morning shopping continued. My routine was running my life.  One day after both of my girls were toddling around my mom asked when I was going to start bringing the girls to church. She reminded me of how I loved it as a kid and how important it was that they have the church experience. I thought to myself, who has time for church? Not wanting to disappoint mom I gathered us up, got us dressed and off to church. We did it, we got there on time, the world didn’t come to an end, and the girls seemed to like meeting the other kids. Reality hit me; the decisions I made would need to take in to consideration far more than what was convenient for me.  My routine needed to be more flexible. We started going to church. The grocery shopping found a new home on the calendar and life moved forward.

It was my return to church that taught me how to say no and move past the guilt. I learned to say no to many things, which opened doors to so much more. I learned that I did not have to be in charge of everything. God has distributed gifts to people who need a chance to use them. I learned that when one person says no the door is open for another person to say yes.  As for time management, well I still stay pretty busy.  A few months ago I thought I would like to get back to yoga, and found time to squeeze it in each morning. Now I cannot imagine starting my day without it. Sometimes I think I should do more reading, but who has the time? Have a great week.

:o)  Linda