Making the Most of the Time You Have

When you work in a ministry such as mine, you know there will be seasons where it is all or nothing.  No days "off" in the traditional sense of the word.  You don't work Mon.-Fri., 9:00-5:00.  You work round-the-clock, for weeks, and often months before you have a weekend at home.  It's just the way it is.  So from the 1st weekend of September until the 3rd weekend in October, this has been my life.  What a privilege it has been to be blessed to travel/speak/sing in women's retreats and churches every Thurs.-Sun. or Fri.-Sun..  Then during the week, teaching piano/voice students Tues.-Wed. Monday is spent unpacking, doing laundry, going to the bank, post office, etc., and Thursday is spent re-packing and preparing.
So when I realized that I had a Sun. afternoon/evening not spoken for the 1st Sun. in October, and I was only an hour from Clemson, SC that morning in concert, I made my way over to see my girl!  She is a senior at Clemson, and so we made the afternoon/evening work for us, as she is a full-time working student, and time together is a rare treat.  That afternoon we enjoyed the warm sunshine while sitting on her front porch before Hannah, 2 of her girlfriends, and 2 of their dogs piled in my car and went to Starbucks where we girls got special coffees and the dogs enjoyed their "puppacinos."  Then we headed to the 4:30 service at New Spring Church in Anderson, which was such a wonderful time of worship.  After church, Hannah, her best friend and I made our way to Red Bowl where we enjoyed a delicious sushi dinner, a first for Hannah and me, as she has ALWAYS claimed to be grossed out by sushi, but now loves it.  After milking every minute for all it was worth, I made my way from Clemson to home, Columbia, SC so thankful to have spent the day just enjoying my daughter and her friends, and of course my precious grand dog Blue.  It was a great day. 

This past Sun. I had an afternoon/evening "off" as I drove home from being in ministry in St. Simon's Island, GA, and so my son, his girlfriend and I enjoyed a pizza, a Redbox movie rental, and a rare Sunday night together at home.  Of course Ross brought 2 baskets full of dirty laundry, but that's just part of being the mother of a college student, and I gladly pitched in to send him home with some clean boxers!

Last week the SC State Fair was in town, an annual tradition around here.  And though I could not go with either of my children, I had a blast going with my precious friend Sharon (an annual "date" for us), along with my Aunt Sue.  We are not ashamed to say that we had an elephant ear, pronto pups, teriyake chicken on a stick, ice cream cones, fried mushrooms, Fiske fries, and fresh squeezed lemonade.
All in all, it has been a great month, and it is still not over.  This weekend I am very much looking forward to just being home.  No packing, preparations, practicing,
no traveling, speaking, or singing.  Just me, Cookie and Zoey at home.  Now I can take a deep breath.
Some would say I keep a crazy schedule.  At times I admit I would agree.  But I have lived long enough and lost enough loved ones to know that life is a gift, and I don't want to waste it.  I want to spend it loving on the ones I love dearly, making memories they will cherish long after I have come and gone, and make it count.
 Ephesians 5:16-17 says: "Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.…"
Making the most of your time...