Lately Ive been thinking about words like community, ministry, time, and relationships. All those words seem to be married to each other. We all have them in our life.
It seems that a lot of my life I have looked at where I was headed, you know, focusing on the future. Lately though, I am feeling so drawn to the now. Now is the time. Now is the day you run into that person who needs encouraged. Now is the time to spend in the yard throwing the baseball. Now is the week you invite your girlfriend, who hurts because her husband left her, to lunch. Right now.
Ill never forget an experience I had about four years ago. There was a couple that came to our restaurant almost every Friday night. They had been married around 50 years. Quiet people, they could dine and leave and you wouldnt even realize they had been there. One night when the husband came up to pay, he said some things that profoundly spoke to me. You know Lee Ann, we come here a lot. You and your husband and kids are here too much. My wife and I worked like you two all our life. We said when we retire we will go here, do this or experience that. Then one day we woke up and were too old to do any of it. Dont let this time in your life slip away.
You know those four words- community, ministry, time, and relationships? Well, in order to experience the life that is available to all of us, we need to look at what we do with those 86,400 seconds each day. Time wraps its arms around those other three words. If all you do is work, your relationships and community all happen within that circle. And well, your ministry, if it happens, will be limited to the work circle as well. And then by the time you reach home, there isnt very much left.
Maybe we just need to be home. Honestly, I watch people that sell out to their jobs to the point of hurting their families. I just had a conversation with a super, awesome, delightful person that shared parts of her story and challenges and she was open to my thoughts. I told her, Stay home. She said, Thats it? Yep. That was it, stay home. If we make our family the first part of our community and ministry its amazing what happens. The growth that takes place is like a miracle. I have experienced it myself.
Here is the truth- success begins at home. Those four words need to happen so much at home that it creates such a spillover that we find our kids doing ministry, community and relationships. I have gotten it backwards before. Oh, but not anymore. I say no to stuff. Even good stuff. Sometimes we do things out of obligation, people pleasing, or guilt. Learn the word no. Just like I told my friend, Just because its a good opportunity doesnt mean it is the best opportunity. Start at home first, not last.
Stik a Fork in to staying home, spillovers, true success.
