Time is a Funny Thing

Today is February 17, 2010. It's been 6 months since my dad passed away. It's crazy to think about how much can change in such a short period of time. My tendency is to measure time by the proximity to life-changing events.

At this very time just three years ago, I was months away from my dad walking me down the aisle. Two years ago close to this time, he took Emily to a watch the Phoenix Suns game down in Seattle. He was healthy and probably feeling quite invincible. Only four months later, we were touching down in the Philippines, a trip that was a surprise blessing to our family because of the diagnosis. And just over a year from when we arrived back home from that same trip, my dad passed away. Crazy.

Time is a strange paradox. Though it does seems that so much can change in so little time, what is also interesting to me is how little things can change in a given period of time. My dad had a John Piper book that was always laying around the house. I've never read it but the title always caught my attention as if to challenge and remind me: "Don't Waste Your Life."

When I think back to how much has changed in the last three years, I can't help but also ponder how much or how little my life has changed since then. What have I done in the time God has given me?

Imagine if $1440 were deposited into a bank account at the beginning of each day for you to spend. It is up to your discretion how to spend it but it all must be spent in that day. Any remaining balances cannot be transferred and once it's gone, it's gone. There are no credits, advances or overdrafts. That would mean that in a week we would have $10,080 at our disposal and in one month, $43,200. It would seem as if that great amount of money would be more than enough to cover any kind of expense.

Time is a resource we've been given just like money. We have 1440 minutes in a day, 10,080 minutes in a week and 43,200 minutes in a month to spend at our discretion.

Ultimately, the way we spend our time ends up being the way we spend our life. If you're anything like me, there have been days or weeks that have slipped by at times when it feels as if you have nothing of eternal value to show for it. Time doesn't seem to show any signs of slowing down. On the contrary, it seems to only speed up as I've gotten older and the sense of urgency to spend wisely only seems to increase.

My hope is that as time continues to fly by that I can take opportunities to view these milestones as a time to pause and ponder how I'm spending my life. My dad's faith throughout his life, illness and up until his death had a resounding impact on my life. Now the question is, how much have I allowed God to change since then?