It's All About Time

No matter how carefully I plan my day I never seem to have enough time. I no sooner get into a good working mode than I'm out of time. If only somebody could invent some gizmo to help me save time or at least stretch it a little, I would be happy. If I just had enough time I could solve all of my problems and maybe have enough time left over to work on a few world problems. As it stands, the world is deprived of my problem solving savvy because I can't find enough time to do it.

I do what I can to save time but every time I save 15 minutes, it takes me three hours to clean up the mess. I'm not a time management expert, but I don't think it's worth it.

What I want to know is where does time go? Is there a resort area somewhere where time goes? And, how much time does time take when it takes time off? What, pray tell, does it do when it takes time off? Does it ever get wasted?

All of this contemplation is time consuming, to say the least. And I try to say the least as much as possible in order to save time. But every time I try to say the least, somebody wants me to explain what I just said and then I've lost all the time I’ve saved, plus. So, not only am I no further ahead but I've lost a little ground in the process.

The worst place to try to save time is in the home. It is not that I have given up. I’ve just lost the battle-royal.

In our home, my wife has all of the time-saving kitchen appliances to be found in any department store this side of the Great Wall of China. I hate going shopping with my wife. Every time we see some new time-saving appliance my wife's eyes light up and she says, "Oh Honey, we've just got to have this for our home."

Being part of the "we've" equation, I question the validity of this time-saving gadget and if we really need it, or if it will really save time.

"Oh," she says to me quite sarcastically, "this appliance will help me save tons of time in the kitchen."

Silly me; I always thought time was measured in seconds and minutes and hours. Now I understand why people with a lot of time on their hands feel so exhausted.

I have learned through many pain-filled years that my part of the “we’ve” equation is paying for these gadgets. More importantly, I’ve learned it saves time, lots of time, if I don’t argue and just pay the bill and carry the time-saving thingamabob home.

I save a lot of time allowing my wife to believe all these things save her time in the kitchen. I often wonder, never aloud, of course, what she does with all the time she saves in the kitchen.

I can't speak for anybody else, and often not even for myself, but it has been my experience that all the time saved with time-saving kitchen appliances is wasted at traffic lights.

It does not matter how early I get up in the morning, or how efficiently all those time-saving kitchen appliances are in getting my breakfast together, I still arrive late at my appointment.

The culprits to my tardiness are those traffic lights.

Whoever invented the traffic light did so with the intended purpose of wasting as much time as a person could save in the morning. The traffic lights in my neighborhood are omniscient. They know exactly, to the second, how much time I have saved that morning. It might have something to do with that little blue light above those traffic lights.

For example, if I manage to save 15 minutes some morning, the traffic light manages to waste 16 minutes of my time. That extra minute is just for their fun. They love seeing the anguished look of drivers who are late. Some will even take pictures. In fact, I suspect these traffic lights know exactly how much time I have saved in the last 30 days and delight in taking it all back on one trip across town.

I have tried many things to save time all to no avail. Every time-saving idea I come up with ends up wasting even more time. Years ago, somebody come up with the idea of turning our clocks back one hour in an effort to save time or at least make the most of time.

I really can't see this is a time-saving effort because it takes me several months to adjust myself to the time change, which in the meantime makes me late for all my appointments. By the time I amend myself to the change in time I forget the appointment.

Personally, I'm against turning the clock back one hour. It’s just too confusing for me.

If it were left up to me, I would like to turn the clock back to yesterday. If I could only live yesterday over, I'm sure I could waste more time than I did yesterday.

The Bible encourages us to save time. The apostle Paul writes, “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil” Ephesians 5:15 - 16 (KJV).

Even if I could save time in a bottle, I would not have the right sized cork.

Dr. James L. Snyder, is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, 1471 Pine Road, Ocala, FL 34472. He lives with his wife in Silver Springs Shores. James is an award winning author whose books are available at https://amzn.to/2SMOjwO.

Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail [email protected]. The church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.

Hello everyone!

Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail [email protected]. The church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.

Hello everyone!