Time Change

This morning at 2:00 a.m., we sprang ahead to 3:00 a.m. It's nice if you're working that shift, as you gain an hour's salary without doing anything. However, it's a bummer for losing an hour of sleep, if you're doing what most of us were doing at that hour.

We had dinner at the home of some friends last night and some lunch guests after church today, so it's been a full weekend. I also worked on creating an invitation for 3 Easter egg coloring event that we're inviting a bunch of kids whom we know. One of our computers is currently out of commission, while this one crashes often for no apparent reason. It's been harder to get as much work done as I would have liked with this temperamental machine.

One of the most challenging films I've seen is "Castaway." Tom Hanks plays a hard-working young executive with Federal Express. His fiancee is played by Helen Hunt. Hanks is in a plane crash and ends up alone on a desert island for a number of years. When I watch this film, I'm challenged to reflect on my perspective of time and relationships.

In Paris, it's easy to get into a mindset of wanting to be as "productive" with time as possible. You know, "Time is money." With 3 children in our home, there is always something else to do with them and somewhere to go. It's easy to get into a rat race mindset of running from place to place.

Besides having computer problems, our car is also having problems starting. I've spent some time this Thursday and Friday trying to resolve the problem of the brake light not working, something dangerous in a city like Paris. Ironically, these problems have started during the time we've tried to use the car less and walk the girls more to school to save money and get more exercise.

Last night I got into a dispute with my wife over something. Conflict is sometimes healthy, but not always. Sometimes, if not resolved well and promptly, it leads to behavior and patterns that become "time wasters." You know, like avoiding some people or subjects or having to act gingerly around some people. You take a longer path in order to avoid someone.

Sunday is a day that many have off from work. Some consider it as "the Sabbath." Having worked many Sundays in pastoral ministry, I know that it is work day for many in ministry. However, the principle of taking 1 day of 7 off for rest, relaxation, refreshment, and rejoicing in what has gotten done during the past week, is healthy. It actually makes us better use the time the other 6 days, as we gain a more accurate perspective by stepping away from our projects for a day.

Trying to remember God's sovereignty over our time can help when things like car problems, computer crashes, sickness, wet diapers, and other unscheduled problems interrupt our schedules. God can help us be more productive during the hours when things are working in order to cover for the time "lost" when we're trying to fix things.

The rest of the family is still asleep at 8:00 a.m. and I need to hop in the shower, empty the dishwasher, etc. Hopefully our car will start up this morning, or else we take the metro to church. My wife invited a family for lunch whom we hope to get to know better. Looking back, I don't know if I would have scheduled this event for today, but it's on the agenda. I trust that God will be part of this time together.