Make Time, Be Present
Stop being busy and start being present.
In today's world everything can be had in an instant. Want something new? Amazon can deliver it in 24 to 48 hours. Want to message a friend? No waiting for a letter in the mail, instantly you can email, text, face-time, and get an immediate response. I remember in elementary school, we had a pen pal project where we would write letters and send pictures and wait with anticipation for the response. I wonder if they liked it, how they are, what they have been doing.... but that kind of anticipation is no longer. We buy a birthday gift online while watching television and only half-listening to a phone conversation.
I was out for dinner with some friends a couple weeks ago and the table behind us had what appeared to be a married couple and three children. While my friends and I chatted about our lives, spouses, families, and work, I watched this family sit in silence - each on an electronic device. I turned to my friends and said, "look there, what a sad picture of our society." It was sad, they were not present, there was no meaningful interaction taking place. We need to be interrupted by life not technology.
In the book We Saved You a Seat, by Lisa Jo Baker, she ways "being interrupted isn't about the state of our houses [lives, to do lists, etc...]. It's about the state of our hearts. Women aren't hungry for perfection they are hungry for connection". Throughout the bible there are many, many stories where Jesus was busy on his way to one thing and became interrupted by friends and strangers in need. (See: Mathew 8, 9, 19)
Make time for friends, have genuine conversations, let your plans go awry to be present for someone who needs you. Be present when you are with that person, don't check your email or answer your phone - listen and be present. Life is precious and we never know what the next turn may hold, do not waste a moment on frivolity but instead on genuine loving relationships. Time is precious to you and them. God's word advises us that we should use our time wisely, life is distracting and our very real enemy doesn't want us to be stronger in supportive, loving, relationships.
Psalm 90:12 (NIV) Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom
Colossians 4:6 (NIV) Let your conversation always be full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
