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Time to Myself
Posted By Self
Like many moms, I have longed for time to myself…no house to clean, no need to provide transportation to games or lessons, no meals to prepare, no responsibilities. The problem is that I typically over schedule my time. There are always more things to do than there is time to do them. I even made a list of things I’d do if I had time to do them. It has more than 25 things on it, like ‘learn to paint’ and ‘finish a scrapbook for each of my 5 children’. Each of these items requires long spans of uninterrupted time and advance planning, so they never get done.
It turned out that I got plenty of time to myself this past week. I took one of my daughters and three of her friends on a college visit. They spent two nights in the dorm with friends while I checked into a local hotel with a briefcase full of work to get done. As God planned it, my laptop didn’t work well with the Internet service provided by the hotel. I was frustrated because I had intended to catch up on a lot of Internet research for some projects I was working on. I had almost 15 hours of down time with nothing scheduled.
Isn’t it amazing that when you finally get what you wish for, you don’t have a clue how to deal with it? I stared at the walls of the hotel room, flipped through several channels on the television, and glanced at the tourist magazine on the desk. Then I remembered that I had actually brought two books with me just in case, so I grabbed one and started reading.
Jeremiah 31:25 “I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.” (NIV)
Over the course of the trip I read my books, ate a nice dinner at one of my favorite restaurant chains, power-walked around a mall, and I slept in until 8:30. I caught up on my Bible reading and spent quite a bit of time in prayer. God reminded me that I don’t always have to fill my time with work, and that slowing down actually re-energizes me. I hadn’t realized I was weary, but I left the hotel feeling refreshed mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. It was better than a vacation!
Have you ever been surprised with a large chunk of unscheduled time? How did you deal with it? Over the next couple of weeks we will discuss how to find and use ‘spare’ time – either in small increments or large blocks. Let me know if you have a tip or technique for finding or maximizing your personal time.
Mar 26th, 2007
Last Saturday, I was scheduled for my physical at 8:15am. I got there in plenty of time for my appointment. My 18 month old son was playing happily at home with daddy. It turned out my doctor had been called in to the hospital earlier that morning to deliver a baby and was just leaving the hospital. There was another person ahead of me. Normally this would have sent my blood pressure through the roof, but I’d brought a brand new book by one of my favorite Christian fiction authors.
It was blissful! I spent 45 minutes sitting and quietly reading. Even in that silly paper gown I was content. My blood pressure was the lowest it had been for as long as I could remember. I sat, and I read. It was amazing! The rest of my morning was so calm! I need to schedule more of those!
Yeah for you, Lundie! I always take a book with me for appointments, and I’ve found that the better the book, the faster the doctor is…there are times when I wish she would go away so I could finish reading! What book are you reading?
Sounds like the perfect “vacation” for you!
Today while Julia was napping in the car - the sun was too bright to use my laptop, so I picked up a book I started reading awhile ago but haven’t had time to continue. It was a much needed break!