I just started a new job, working as an EA (educational assistant) substitute for a local school district. You would think as a substitute, my job calls would be sporadic, but every day I’m working somewhere. There are ten schools in the district. In a five-day school week, I worked at three different schools and have already had a snow day. It’s a lot like starting a new job every day. I guess that’s because every day I’m working with different faculty, learning to navigate my way through a different school building, and offering a different type of assistance. The hours from one day to the next also vary.
However, my greatest challenge is learning to coordinate my full-time work schedule with my other obligations and responsibilities. I try to spend quality time with the Lord every morning before I leave for school. But after school I work on my Sunday school lesson for the following week, my blog, and the Lord’s Page. It wouldn’t be bad if I were home all evening, but very often during the week, I have somewhere I have to go in the evenings – church, a meeting, a previous commitment. And that limits my time even further. So by 9:00, I’m tired and ready for bed while a lot of things are left undone.
My email is backing up. With the exception of the kitchen and laundry, household chores aren’t getting done. The second edition of my book is coming along much too slowly, and the copy writing course I’m taking is at a standstill because I haven’t had time to work on it. My son has requested that I send him childhood pictures of his sisters, so I am making time to scan and label a few photos here and there to email them to him. (He lives 1000 miles away.) And there are many other things on my to-do list that require my attention. We have exercise equipment in the basement, but if I take the time to use it, which I’d like to, something else won’t get done. And we all know what the devil will say, “You’d have more time in the morning if you didn’t spend so much time with God. Just give up your prayer time. Or don’t read your Bible for so long.”
But the Lord reminded me of a quote I heard some years ago, “I have so much to do, I must spend the first three hours in prayer.” Some people credit it to Martin Luther. Regardless of who said it, God has used it on more than one occasion to remind me of the incredible importance of my prayer time. Being so busy means I need to pray more; not less. I’m busier today than I ever have been in my entire life, so I know that I need to organize my time better. And if I let the Lord help me, He will guide me in this area of my life. I’m already contemplating what I can do at school when I have periods of down time.