“They say time is money, but that’s not true. Time is life. And if I want the fullest life, I need to find fullest time… the busyness of your life leaving little room for the source of your life… God gives us time. And who has time for God?”
– Ann Voskamp : One Thousand Gifts
I read this, the re-read it and stopped a little stunned by the frank statement but reveling in the truth behind it. Sometimes something comes into your life at the exact moment you needed it, like it was orchestrated by the hands of God to freeze you in your tracks and stop. This book has been revolutionary into my thought process as I prepare for wedding season. Throughout my journey I have been exceptionally and continually blessed to have such a strong supportive, honest, and transparent group of friends to be “real” with. We all seem to have similar struggles and when we are really honest with ourselves and each other, we begin to peel the layers away of what we are fully experiencing and where we need to focus our energy. As a passionate business woman, I have probably said, “time is money” on more than one occasion. I have learned to fully understand that my time is worth something and more than ever I have been focusing every ounce of my being into spending my time on the right things – ahem, I don’t think Real Housewives is classified under the “right things” but I am guilty on more than one account there. Kidding aside, it is far to easy to get caught up in the busyness of life and forget about living.
We fill our inboxes, our calendars, our hours with a list of things that only seems the lengthen and we fall asleep exhausted at the end of the evening – if you are like me, this happens on the couch at approximately 9:30PM. We fill our time, we worship busy, we feel like we are these productive little robots and we forget about the fact that the moments that make up our busy days are our lives… happening, with or without us acknowledging it. I recently sat down with one of my best friends, Bethany, she is the kind of friend you find yourself talking for hours upon hours and never running out of things to say.
More than once we boldly shared stories that started with, “I haven’t told anyone else this but…” We talked about life, real life and admitted that at times we struggled to even pray. I mean, come on, how about shutting off that TV and turning on your mind before falling asleep to acknowledge God. We talked about how devotionals were challenging to keep up with at times and how we wished we were part of our church community but committing to a schedule seemed impossible with our busy lives. By the end of our talk we had really started to unveil the gaps in our lives and we had fully understood that we were not alone in how we were feeling and that we could do something about all of this – together.
We started doing a little daily study and promised to hold each other accountable on getting into the word, in acknowledging God, in taking time to stop the madness and just be. It not only reconnected us, it helped us to prioritize our time, our days, our lives. We force ourselves to become jugglers just waiting to drop the ball and feel like we have failed. We continue to fill every minute with something that is “important” and forget about the fact that these important things may not matter in the scheme of life. We don’t need more money, more followers, more things, more clothes, more fans, more clients – I truly believe, we need more God.
As I continue to tread the waters of being a young business owner, I find that I value every minute, I love my time. I have stopped the glorification of busy in my own life and have created a routine that allows for deviation when necessary, that doesn’t neglect time for me, for inspiration, time to take a walk outside, time to go for a drive. I have realized that although time may be money, time is life. How I spend my days is in fact how I spend my life and to make the intentional decision to choose a life of joy has been a transforming factor in how I run my business and how I live my life.
Beautifully said Jenna! Each day is precious and the joy in our lives is dependent on the choices we make…
I love this post so much. So beautifully written and so true.
You always speak such truth…absolutely love this post. Thanks for opening your heart to us:)
I love One Thousand Gifts. This post is such a great reminder of how we spend our time determines our enjoyment of life. Thanks for sharing your heart, Jenna!
Fantastic post!!! I agree that it’s just so easy to get caught up in the day to day that we actually miss out on what it’s really about it.
I’m with you Jenna! We constantly have to reevaluate and make sure our time is being “spent” wisely! The tyranny of the urgent is no way to live. I find that God wakes me up to tell me things sometimes in the night when my life is quiet and I have a listening ear. I’m so happy you and your friend are keeping it real with each other and getting in the Word. No better place to be!
Teadinh your words reminds me that I’m way too busy to even slow down enough to absorb what you’re saying. Not a good sign, huh? Thank you for addressing topics that make me think.
I need to read this book because I don’t stop to be thankful often enough. Beautiful sunset images too! Love them!
I completely agree!! 🙂
Silently Smiling Snoring Soon!
[…] Jenna Kutcher encourages her followers to build a life where time is their currency. I know, I know. You’re probably thinking, “Uhmmmm, you guys are farmers. Farmers work a lot. Like All. The. Time!” […]