Borrowed Time

I have people fooled. Many think I am well-organized but I am a big waster of the one thing that cannot be replenished. This is from June 6, 2011.

I'm addicted to my laptop mouse. I can use the touch pad clicker (if that's what you call it) but it's a struggle. Lately, my mouse has been going through AA batteries at the rate of one every two days. I have to confess that I don't turn it off when I'm not using it but I never did before and it wasn't eating the DURACELLS like Skittles. I was at WAL-MART several days ago and thought about buying some more as my supply had been depleted but I would have had to stand in line for two-three minutes so I blew it off. So, now I am resorting to scrounging. I've taken the used batteries from my camera and they didn't last long. Right now, I'm using a discarded one I found in a drawer. I've already checked out my remote control to the DVD player so I have four more to play with, although this cripples my ability to watch movies. Within several days, all my borrowing will leave me with no mouse and very slow laptop capabilities. I should have stood in line.

My life mirrors the mouse/battery scenario right now. We are in summer mode and I should have more time but I don't. About twenty years ago, a wonderful teacher named Faye Kieffer told me something I've never forgotten. When speaking of her classroom duties, she said, "We keep adding stuff but we never take anything away." That is profoundly true in education and why teachers are busier than ever. The things in my life that I add are my choices. I chose to start a devotional blog and that's a good thing. I choose to work out more after I joined a fitness club and that's a good thing. I chose to get on Facebook, after some urging, and there are already benefits in my life. But the hours in the day haven't increased and there's only one place I've found to borrow time like I did the batteries: sleep. We know that's just a temporary band-aid on the problem and it cannot go on indefinitely. Then, what will I give up? Bible reading? Prayer? After the death of John the Baptist and with his apostles returning from a mission trip, Jesus wanted to take the Twelve off so they could get some rest. A crowd of 5,000 intervened but when they were fed, the Savior went off by Himself to pray and shuttled his men across the Sea of Galilee in a boat. We know what happened next. Jesus walked out to the boat on the water in the middle of the pitch black night. That could never have been me. First, I struggle with the physics of flesh and deep water and storms and crashing waves. But I would face one other obstacle. I could never find the boat because my flashlight is out of batteries. My prayer is that illustration remains figurative and not literal. It's going to be hard to take the light to Vietnam if the spark has gone out in me. I can't borrow the light within you.

Applicable quote of the day:
"We say we waste time but that's impossible. We waste ourselves."
Alice Bloch

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