The Schedule

Often, we hear ads about improving our lives. Sometimes, improvements in our lives turn out to be anything but. This is from March 3, 2006.

I am convinced that most people who don't work in a school don't know how one functions. Schools run on calendars and clocks. At Westbury Christian School, we have four different class schedules, down from the unwieldy eight we had several years back. Our school day contains eight class periods intertwined with lunch, chapel or activity time, and four minutes to pass between each class. The schedule we use 90% of the time is Schedule A. Today, we were on Schedule D. Under this format, each class is shortened by two minutes, there is no chapel/activity time, and we have a forty minute assembly at the end of the day. Friday's assembly was the kickoff for our jog-a-thon, modeled after the reality show Fear Factor. There is a quirk in Schedule D. Fifth and sixth periods flip flop. After eight years at WCS, I still can't figure it out. Kids ask me where they go next and I have to refer to the printed schedule tacked on the wall. If I stay here eight more years, I may be able to comprehend Schedule D but it isn't a lock. My life is such a routine that the slightest deviation throws me for a loop.

My apartment went online this week. I KNEW my entrance into the Internet at home would make life easier. I was mistaken. My reasoning for wanting to be connected to the web was so I could write my blog at home and not be confined to my classroom. There were things I never took into account. First, my school computer is much faster and more efficient than the laptop sitting at Braesridge Apartments. I become accustomed to writing under pressure at school- I couldn't leave until I had my entry posted. It is much easier to put it off now. I find myself finishing later each day and it's interfering with sleep. What I believed would be a blessing so far has been a trial. In the end, it will be a boon to my life but that hasn't happened yet. Like so many things, I didn't think it through. The Lord has it worked out if I have the faith to use his timetable. We might think our lives are on Schedule A when in fact God has us on Schedule D, maybe even E or F. In John 7, Jesus chastises his brothers who are mocking his ministry. Jesus tells them, "for you any time is right." The Savior contrasts their concept with his own by stating, "for me, the right time has not yet come." I wonder if I am any different in forcing an agenda for my life instead of turning it over to Time's Creator. I'm impatient even when praying, "Your will be done." What I probably am subliminally asking is, "Lord, please line Your will up with my will." I don't have a clock in my class because kids watch it and shut down when the bell is near. I want them to focus the entire forty-six minutes instead of cruising to the finish line when class is deep into the fourth quarter. Maybe the Lord is doing the same with me. Maybe he's telling me, "Steve, just play the game and I WILL manage the clock for you." Maybe he's showing me I need to spend a little money and get a new computer so I can better manage the twenty-four hours he has loaned to me. Maybe he's letting me know I am not quite ready for the next step in my life. Maybe he wants me to slow down a little. Maybe, just like Jesus told his brothers, "the right time has not yet come."

Applicable quote of the day:
"Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them."
Dion Boucicault

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
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E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com