Stop the world...

I put a growth chart with a picture of my kids as the background at the top of my monitor at work as a constant reminder of the passing time and passing influence I have as a parent, husband...

Another week is coming to a close. "Where has the time gone?" is a satirically comical cliche of our culture. I look back on this week and ask, "how have I grown?, What have I learned?" We have had a busy week but nothing stands out as being progressive, only the "usual daily grind" of things.

So much of my time and energy is spent on "survival" that much is lost in terms of purposeful growth. I have tasks that I have wanted to get to for a long time but have not had an open time slot big enough to do it. At times "maintaining" seems more than I can do so growth is definitely out of the picture. My recent trip to Haiti has really brought this to the forefront. The trip was very purposeful and made a big difference but proved costly coming home to two weeks of not "maintaining" my life and work in the States.

Matthew West sings "Stop the world, I want to get off" and my heart understands. I want to escape the tyranny of the urgent and routine. Life in the States requires that I budget more and more of my time and resources to "routine" and "maintenance". I am trying to find ways to streamline maintenance so I can focus on growth as a person, Christian, father, husband and focus on the needs and desires of others in service to God for His glory.