T-I-M-E

Earlier this year I made a conscious decision to make an effort to steward my time wisely. This thought alone was like opening up the flood gates into what was a very hectic, overscheduled life… what a journey it has been.   

Over New Year’s, my husband and I always take time together to reflect on the year that was, and what we want to achieve for the year to come. At the top of my list for 2018 is that I didn’t want to feel overwhelmed and flustered all of the time. I found myself in a constant state of overwhelm, therefore not enjoying life.

My body was also responding to this as I was often feeling short of breath and had physical aches and pains.  I knew this was not the life of abundance my heavenly Father had in mind for me. Somehow, I suspected all of this had something to do with my overscheduling my time.

Now I hear you ask, why is this so important? Well it’s as simple as this… each of us have a specific assignment here on this earth and with that comes plenty of God-opportunities each and every day. Our time plays a big role in getting it done. And I tell you, I don’t want to miss out on completing what God has specific selected for me to do!

So, all this self-realisation lead to my decision to evaluate my time and listen for Holy Spirit to guide me in the way I was to steward it. So now as we prepare for Spring I’d love to share with you the steps I have taken and what I have learnt along the way.

I wrote a list  

Despite the fact I was feeling overwhelmed, if you asked me if I was ‘doing too much’ I would have laughed and said, ‘of course not’. In my head, I figured that I had all the capacity in the world to do whatever I needed to. Until I realised everything filling my schedule necessarily ‘need’ to be there.

Once I sat and wrote a list of everything I had to do in an average week I was shocked at just how much I had on. I couldn’t remember when or how it became so much. Looking at that list put it into perspective why my body was running out of steam. 

Start praying and stop arguing

So, I started praying. Half expecting God to pat me on the head and say, ‘good work Em, just have a couple more coffee’s and you’ll be right’. Funny enough… He didn’t.

Instead, as I asked God ‘what is it You want me to do’, and what do you want me to fill my time with, He showed me items I needed to start crossing off the list.

And because I’m such a good girl… I said YES straight away! Haha… ok no, I argued. I argued for a few months on some of them!

However, as I let go of some of the ‘easier to say goodbye to’ commitments, I realised that if I could trust God with these decisions, surely, He’d have my back for the others.

And so, God revealed to me what I should step away from, I took a deep breathe, and I did.

And one by one the life, the purpose, and the priorities HE had for me became clear once again.