As a busy wife and mother I find there is never enough time to get everything accomplished. I am always wishing for “more time.” If I had more time in the day my house would be clean, I could workout every day and I may be able to read one of the many books waiting to be opened on my bedside table.

Time always frustrated me but it looked different when I was a child. When I was younger I was convinced that time literally stood still. When December 1st was upon us I would begin my annual countdown to my Christmas birthday. I always had an advent calendar of some kind that helped me count down the days to the big event. The days and weeks leading up to December 25 moved like molasses and I never thought the day would ever get here. I remember waiting for the day with eager anticipation and as the date grew nearer and nearer the agonizing wait seemed longer and longer. In childhood an hour seemed like a day and a day seemed like a week and a year or more was simply too much for my young brain to conceptualize. An entire year, 365 days, seemed light years away!

Now I ask my younger self, “Why were you so eager to grow up?” As a child I didn’t know that as an adult I would view time as a coveted resource. That I would gladly trade all of the rubber ducks and Goldfish Crackers (my daughters favorites) in the world for a few extra minutes every day.

I began to reflect on the subject of time after reading a piece a colleague of mine recently wrote about his young adult son. Although I never had the opportunity to meet Jordan, after reading the words written by his father I was reminded to slow down and cherish each and every second of the day.

 

Jordan’s Watches

by: John Mark Slagle

Jordan loved his watches.

He had one for every day of the week. Some were important and were of high price. Some were copies. All were big and were, to his eye, beautiful. Each watch was embellished with plenty of bling – whether solid gold and encrusted with diamonds or plated and garnished with paste, Jordan was drawn to each watch for different reasons.

Jordan wore all the watches with times stopped at inaccurate intervals. He loved them as jewelry but could never slow down enough to visit the jeweler for battery replacement. He always wore a beautiful watch and never knew what time is was.

The watches now sit in the sleek wooden case Jordan kept them in – waiting in the corner of our room for his dear brother to take them up when his heart is ready. One morning this week I set out to the jeweler with them to have them cleaned and repaired and repowered and I could not complete the task. It seemed like they should remain stopped and as Jordan left them.

Lessons learned from these watches …

Life is beautiful.
Life is short.

The only time that really matters is right now.

Time runs out.

Some days are diamonds.
Some days are paste.

All are lovely.

I plan on honoring Jordan’s life by being present in every minute of my young daughter’s life. I will spend more time taking in the beauty of the day that God has graciously blessed me with instead of worrying about not having enough time to get everything accomplished on my to-do list.