Will You Give Him Your Time?

Via PeakPix.com (2017), CC0 Public domain. Title and logo added by author.[/caption] Two more weeks. Two more weeks until Easter, two more weeks of Lent. Do you feel like it’s gone by too quickly? For me, it feels like it takes about this long before I finally hit the right Lenten gear and decide I need to step things up a notch with the remaining time. Our associate pastor delivered a homily at the beginning of Lent that simplified the development and evolution of our Lenten fasts while also challenging us to go deeper. He explained that when we are young or baby Catholics, we usually start out by giving up something small – like chocolate. Then, maybe the next year, we decide that wasn’t too hard, so we give up all candy and sweets. Eventually we move on from that and give up snacks and eating between meals and then maybe we begin eating smaller portions at mealtime. As we grow and mature in our faith, we begin adding to our Lenten penance by praying more Rosaries, chaplets, and other devotions. However – and this is where my soul screeched to a halt – he paused and then posed us this question:

Are we willing to sacrifice our time?

Time is precious, perhaps even our most valuable "possession" – especially for moms. There is so much we must do in a day, the idea of “extra time” is comical, a joke to make us laugh at the end of another busy day. If, by some miracle, we do get little pockets of quiet – when the babies are sleeping or happily occupied – we want to snatch up those extra crumbs of time like the last brownie crumbs in the pan – and just savor them all to ourselves. My precious [time]! Yet, what if God asks us to give even those small moments of extra time to Him? Sure, we could use that time to finally catch-up on the latest social media updates – which usually just turns into mindless scrolling. (I’m not the only one, right?) Or, extra time in the evening could mean finally sitting and catching up or starting to watch a new show. Heck, maybe we could finally just get in a nap or get to bed early, for a change. Get me right – all those activities are wonderful ways to relax and tune out the pressures and real stressors of our days. God’s not asking you to give up all your time. Only a few moments, here and there. Before you grab your phone – pause. Call out to God, listen, and then bask in the grace of that miraculous silence. Go ahead and continue giving God your sugar cravings, suffering little hunger pains for Him, offering up more prayers. Then, when you’re ready to cut the sacrifice a little deeper - Give Him your Time.