Savoring or Saving?

Ever since my Uncle Bob died 2 years ago, I've had a weird habit  making sure the beautiful pocket-watch that he restored for me, continues to tick. It sits on the dresser in my room and I continue to wind it at odd periods of the day (you can ask any roommate I've ever lived with for the past 2 years). I find it alarmingly refreshing and calming to hear the sound of it ticking, almost making me conscious that time does fly by so quickly and to be aware that every moment is a gift... as cliché as that sounds. I don't want to sound mellow-dramatic or overly poetic but, hearing that pocket -watch tick, is such a comfort to me; reminding me of the memories with precious family members whom I've lost and encouraging me that greater things have yet to come!!

I came across an article last year, as I was doing my Senior research, that was so interesting about how families in the church AND church staff view time. Families view time as a "commodity to be spent, managed, rushed, filled or saved rather than a gift to be unwrapped, cherished, discovered or savored. Time is a crucial determinant in family functioning and treating time as a commodity damages families at many levels."  Now, that I'm in a church, on staff, I can DEFINITELY relate. When I am involved in meetings, it's about getting in and getting out. When I plan events for the kids, it's about bed-times, snack-times, scheduling, dinner- times, rotations, rec-times,  and end-times :the list is endless. 

How do we teach our children to be people who live in the moment? That's a question that I am posing to myself as well. How do we teach our children "not to worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself"? I agree there is such wisdom in teaching our children to plan, organize, schedule when studying, or learning how to relate to other people.  BUT, when it comes to living in a way that has kingdom value and worth- how do we teach our children to savor time instead of saving it? How do we teach our children to be FULLY present? What if we were a time savoring society instead of a time saving society? What would it look like?  There are so many things I do to trim time, to cut time,  to take the easy way out... especially when it comes to checking them off "the list". But, when trying to "fit" in dinner with a friend, it becomes less about savoring time, and more about what  can best cater to our own needs and what fits into our schedules. THIS WHOLE concept I'm sure is where the concept of text-messaging came into play. It takes less time to text someone than to pick up the phone and have a conversation.... hence, why the skill of having face-to-face conversations is rapidly dwindling. But, THAT'S for another day....

I'm challenging myself to constantly be thinking about how I can transform my thoughts from a time saving way of life, into a time savoring way of life. For me, examples would be  to turn off my phone when I'm with people I love AND spend MORE time with  people I love. 

How can YOUR life, relationships, and career be transformed by this thought?