Time

Time. At a certain level, I can be obsessed with it. How it is spent, the potential for things to do with it, how much has passed, how much can things in the future can get done in it, etc. And other things as well... is God bound by it or not and the ramifications that has on personal theology, when it comes to an end what will it be like, etc.
How we spend our time is what I feel most drawn to lately. Maybe because I have an abundance of it. Let me say from experience, given too much time to do nothing is NOT a good thing. It becomes very easy to wallow a day away. When you think about it, without some self-discipline, killing a week of time is relatively easy. And once you learn how to kill a week of time, two weeks in a row isn't difficult either. Then, before you know it, you are staring down the barrel of a month of wasted time.
That my friends, is the bottom of a barrel you don't want to be sitting on. There comes this shame along with it that says, "You should do more with yourself." And frankly, it's true. You should. Then you get into this self-sufficiency routine that makes you think at least you are accomplishing something. 
But what is easy to forget, is that along with getting certain things done for one-self, you should be open to allowing the Holy Spirit to interupt our plans. God gives us time to minister to others (as well as do some disciplines that further our own walk). Carla recently blogged about what we have been reading in Radical by David Platt- teaching others what we learn in our times with the Lord. When was the last time you shared what you are learning with someone you know? Carla and I both have stories that pertain to our quiet times that seemingly had no impact for ourselves personally, but a day or two later someone has come along needing to hear the very thing we read about.
God has given me quite the abundance of time. Part of what I am learning is to be consistent with several different things in my life (such as writing, excersize, etc.). But more importantly, I am preparing my heart for when I am a pastor somewhere. Time is a precious comodity and pastors tend to quickly have very full schedules. The lesson I am hoping becomes engrained by that time, is to allow the Holy Spirit dictate my schedule. To be flexible in a way that allows me to ebb and flow with my time and the disciplines of life and still have enough foresight to see the truly important... the needs of other people.