Time and tide wait for no man.

As we got closer to the end of the school year, my students began running a calendar with the number of days left before school let out. It was a joyous thing for them to replace the numbers and to see that number dwindle. I too used to run a calendar early in my teaching career. I would sit there and stare at it and tried to will it to move faster. I chuckle at those memories and I laugh at my kids today. I always tell them, staring at it isn't going to make it go any faster.

Time is one of the things that we humans have no control over. It comes and goes as it pleases, on its own schedule. One of the things that has added joy to my life, or I should say removed a lot of the stress, is to stop worrying about things I cannot control. I don't toss and turn at night thinking about how much older I'm getting because the aging process is completely out of our hands. Although, many people have gotten rich selling products designed to stop or at least slow down that process, like hair coloring and other things. But I find it one of the major steps in my walk with the Lord when I gained the ability to let things go that are not in my control.

What I do toss and turn about at night are things that affect my salvation. Things that matter. Like my relationship with the Lord. Like utilizing all of the gifts that God has given me to the fullest of my abilities. I believe that God will ask us to account for all the gifts He has given us. To each of us were bestowed certain gifts. Some can sing. Some can cook. Others can encourage. Others can fight...yes, that's a gift too. But we are given the responsibility of utilizing those gifts to the best of our abilities for His glory. I worry about whether I'm a good parent to my daughter. Children are gifts from God on loan to us. Have I done enough as a parent to steer her on a path to God?

I don't worry about time. Time will come and go as it pleases. And our time on Earth is so limited, that worrying about time with the precious little time we have is counter-productive. Put the big rocks in your life in the jar first. Your relationship with God. Your relationship with your family. How you are serving God. Everything else will fall into place. Whenever I am confronted with a problem, I always ask about how this problem will affect my salvation. Put against the backdrop of eternity, will it matter in the end? Putting things in perspective is healthy for your walk with God. Just like time. You can't control it, so why stress over it.