As Time Goes By - Part I

(Reprised from an email sent a year ago. I'm not feeling too "writable" right now.)

Hallo, all. I have been thinking all day of something creative and original to write to grab your interest and get you hooked into reading this [blog]. Ready? Here it is... (Remember, it's incredibly original.) Drum roll, please...

"My, how time does fly!"

I trust you are appropriately bowled over by my ability to express my thoughts so well in words. While you catch your breath, I shall continue with why I am sharing this profound and personal observation.

See, I'm thinking our lives are strings, one of those rolls of twine they wrap around cheap cardboard tubes. (Yes, I already thought about using toilet paper as a metaphor. No thanks, guys.) The more we live - the more the string is played out - the faster it unravels from the roll. Are you gettin' me, friends? In my [nearly 30] years, I have never felt the passage of time like I have felt it lately. How my "routine" - of days, of weeks - are spinning my life out beyond my control. I am unstrung faster than I can catch up with what I'm being used for. I mean - it's all good stuff, right? My string, my life, is being used to connect people and ideas and hopes together - right? Or am I simply binding, restraining, tangling? Am I used in wrapping up special presents for giving, or am I cheap material for packages with no signifigance?

Of course, it's a mixture (at the very least, I hope so!). But trying to evaluate which activity, which conversation, or which relationship is impacting eternity positively and which of these is not is incredibly wearying and frustrating. Like I said, I can't keep up. Just when I think things will slow down, they speed up. Just when I "figured it out," it changes. Can I get an "Amen"?

That's why I'm thankful when I'm reminded that nowhere in God's Word does it say, "Thou shalt fill thy days with hectic scheduling, and complete thy years with church busyness. Measure thy holiness by the fullness of thy calendar." That's why I'm thankful that it does say, "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.... do not worry about tomorrow..." (Matthew 6:33-34), and, "Be still and know that I am God..." (Psalm 46:10).

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. (Hint, hint.)