time is like cabinets

21 months after Michael and I tied the knot, we purchased our first home. It was bank owned, which means the former owners were most likely foreclosed on, and we were blessed by their misfortune. It was a big house for just the two of us and our baby boy, much more than we needed. I hadn't been married long enough to acquire an arsenal of kitchen gadgets, and I remember thinking I would never fill all the walls of cabinets in my new cooking space. Ten years later we moved. We had three small boys by then, and a whole house full of stuff. In that decade I filled every last cabinet in that kitchen. Six houses later, I have learned that if I have the space, I fill it up.


I don't need more cabinets, I need less stuff.


Time is like cabinets.


My time seems to be filled up just as soon as I find some extra. That's OK, because I like to be busy, I think it is good to be busy, but recently, I have been feeling like I fit God in around my schedule, instead of fitting my schedule in around Him. My time with Him in the morning is always the first to get cut short if I'm running late, or have over slept. Evening prayers with the girls has been turning into short and sweet intercession, because I'm late getting them to bed, or I'm especially weary. We often pray quick over meals, so we can eat, and hurry hurry to whatever is next. My relationship with my maker is most often the first thing to go when I get busy. When I don't slow down and acknowledge His gifts as I walk through my day, commune with His spirit as I recognize His mercy, intercede for my loved ones and their needs, as well as my own, I am the one that pays the price. He then seems distant, but I am the one who has receded into my own business.


I don't need more time, I need less business.


Do you find that the more space you have, cabinets and time, the more stuff you find to fill them up?