Purpose in Time

     Hello, Friends! I'm not as energetic as that salutation makes me sound but I'm here and that's what matters, I suppose. Work is lighter this week, for which I am grateful, but work is still work. I'm beginning to understand now why it's so important to love what you do because I am not excited to get up when my alarm goes off at five forty-five, though, let's be honest, I don't know that many people fit that description. I'm grateful for my position and that I probably won't be a waitress forever but knowing it's temporary doesn't make it easier. It's easy to feel trapped and there have definitely been weeks where I've felt stuck. There are almost too many options. In all the classic books I read, a woman's place was to marry, if she could. In a choice of careers, one could be a seamstress, governess, housekeeper, or lady's maid for the higher positions. Maid, cook, factory worker for the lower classes. I am grateful for all the opportunities that I have, especially based how things have been throughout history but it's easy to feel overwhelmed. I often feel like I'm not doing enough, as if working almost full time hours as a part-timer is inadequate. I feel stuck in my life as well as my job. It doesn't always feel like I'm going somewhere; I'm just standing still as the seasons change and I don't. That took a melancholy turn, didn't it? I am perhaps a touch too dramatic sometimes but I shall blame the storyteller in me. I think we all have the desire to romanticize the things that aren't romantic, or at least, it's something I am guilty of. I want to make my filler chapters as glamourous as I can until I can get back to the main plot. 

    Time management is not something I am stellar at. It's not something I've ever put a great deal of thought into. When I was in school, I just got it over and done with in the mornings so I could whatever I wanted to. Before I got my job, I treated writing the same way. I did as much as I could in the morning and then either I would keep writing or I would curl up with a book or watch something with my siblings. There wasn't a need to manage time but I'm beginning to feel like it's something I need to start working on. Whenever I have a day off, I tend to crash, spending as much time as I can in my bed and doing the least amount required of me. Rest is important if done intentionally but spending the day in my room, on my phone, is not rest. In fact, I often feel more drained afterwards than when I started. My life should no revolve around a plastic brick, unless it's my laptop and I'm writing. I do think rest is important, don't get me wrong, but I also think there is such a thing as too much and there are wrong ways to do it. It can very quickly become laziness and I think I'm getting there if I'm not there already.

    In an interview on WHOA That's Good podcast, Annie F. Downs talks about productivity, especially relative to the culture we live in. There's so much expected of us, even if you don't have that many responsibilities. Our worth is often tied to what we can accomplish and it's easy to feel like we've wasted time if we've had a down day, sometimes even a couple hours of doing little. The world is moving so quickly and I think we forget that life is actually so long. We don't have to rush. We don't have to do everything now. We can go at our own pace and take things in our own time. This doesn't mean we have to do nothing either. Our value doesn't lie in our productivity, on what we can do. We have value because we were created with it. God loved us before we were born. One of my favorite scriptures is Psalm 139:13. "For You shaped me, inside and out. You knitted me together in my mother's womb long before I took my first breath." Our worth is not determine by what we do because we had worth before we could do anything. That doesn't mean that we should do nothing, not in the least, but I hope that it encourages you and assures you that your importance is not decided by your work. 

    If you're familiar with the Creation account in Genesis, you'll know that at the beginning of chapter 2, God rests on the seventh day, calling it the sabbath. Sabbath literally means to "cease," "rest," "complete rest," or "desist." (Lexham Bible Dictionary) It was created as a gift and set as an example. In Exodus 20, it's given as one of the ten commandments. We're told to remember it and keep it holy. I don't know if there's heresy in making it our own, changing what God has given, but I do know that our culture today has no concept of true sabbath. The people of Israel weren't allowed to do much at all on the sabbath. It was set aside as a day to cease from work and dedicate that time to the One who gave it. It's a day to set aside worldly business and take up the service of God. We're not in that practice anymore. Weekends as designated for chores and errands we couldn't get done during the week or doing nothing at all. I think that's why we have to make time for it, do it conscientiously. 

    This brings me back to Miss Downs. She said that if you work with your hands, sabbath with your mind. If you work with your mind, sabbath with your hands. We live in a world of productivity, where we don't know how to genuinely rest, but there are ways of doing it intentionally that can bless us. I'm a waitress, I do physical labor, so resting with my mind can look like reading a book or listening to podcasts. If you do mental labor, such as teaching or accounting or working with computers, you can bake or cook, build a puzzle, or play an instrument. Sitting on one's phone doing nothing isn't rest, trust me, I've tried it and it left me empty. There's so much opportunity in our lives, so much to learn and experience, and it doesn't always have to take something out of us. 

    When you're working, do it to the best of your abilities. When you rest, take your sabbath and keep it holy. Remember that there is such a thing as too much productivity and too little. It's good to do your best and it's good to sit with time. Be intentional with the time you've been given because it's a gift. The ability to work and create is a gift and so is rest. Don't waste this life you've been given because it's a miracle and a blessing that you exist. Don't take your time for granted. Live. In 1 Corinthians 10:31 one, Paul charges us with this: "Whatever you do-whether you eat or drink or not- do it all for the glory of God!" Do everything knowing that you're treasured above all creation and created with purpose. Your presence and time on this earth is not a mistake or an accident so live like it, I challenge you. In your day to day, live with purpose and intention, because your life matters.

Yours Truly

Rey.