Counting Time

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:8-9 (NIV)

How do you measure time? Lately, I have been counting it down in quarter hour increments. When fusing glass that is how often I have to trot out to the garage to increase the temperature in the kiln. I set the kitchen timer for fifteen minutes, and then rush around the house doing other things until I hear the buzzer and crank the dial up two notches. Then, I reverse the process when it is time to cool the glass down. It is amazing how fast fifteen minutes goes when you are paying attention to the time. There are other ways I count down time. Every six weeks a progress report comes from youngest son’s school. I hold my breath until I peak inside the envelope. It is hard to believe there will only be one more progress report and one more report card and that part of his life (and mine) will be over. I count time in small amounts, like the number of minutes until a meeting is over and that is how much of my day is spent. I also count it in weekly segments. One Friday, time cards are due, and the next is pay day. Getting paid every two weeks used to be hard for me to budget and balance our account to make it last. Now, I plan ahead knowing which week will be light and which will be “rich”. At least as rich as I will ever be. The holidays are coming up, and I will be counting time in how many days until Christmas. I love that season and look forward to decorating the house and enjoying the lights and music. Then, it will be New Year’s and time to think about how I spent the last 365 days and how I will use 2009. When can I take vacation? When can I go horseback riding? When can I retire? I try to cram every moment full and am always looking ahead to what is around the next bend in the road. But, only God knows how much time I have left and what I will be able to accomplish with it. It is interesting to think about God’s concept of time. The Bible says to Him a day is like a thousand years. While He knows every minute of our day, in the long run, what counts to Him is how we invest for eternity. Those minutes just slip through my hands are opportunities I don’t want to miss. Today, when my glass got to a critical point in the fusing process, I was in the house getting ready to go riding. The temperature got too high and I ruined a piece I had worked hard on because I was not paying attention. Don’t spend all your time crossing things off your to do list and fail to see what is right in front of you. Like glass, it will all fall apart if not spent on what is most important.