Minnesota has recently experienced a deep freeze. We are used to cold and snow in the winter, but we have achieved new extremes. As I write this it is -25 degrees, and when you factor in the windchill it feels like -51. That is an absurd level of cold. Schools have been cancelled for today and tomorrow. Business have closed, and even mail service is cancelled for tomorrow. Time has frozen.
Earlier two fawns made their way into the backyard sniffing around for fallen crab apples in the snow. Days like this, when everything comes to a halt, gives me time and space to reflect and what matters most. We have acquired four additional teenage boys for the night which brings strange noises and much laughter. Hubby and I have had time to just sit together. Even though the need to get work done is still there, the pace is slower. Time has frozen.
Most days, time moves at lightening speed. Work, school, church, more work fill the days leaving me to wonder where to fit in family and friends. Where do I put what is most important in life? How do I get it off the bottom of the “to do” list? Why is it even on the “to do” list? How do I focus on what God wants me to focus on? I needed today to remind me of this scripture, of what is most important. Time has frozen.
7-11 Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help. That way, God’s bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he’ll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes! (1 Peter 4:7-11 MSG).
It took the world around me to literally freeze and suspend time into slow motion to think through what love looks like in my life. It took suspended time to remember love is cultivated by being together in intentional ways. How do I keep this at the center when time leaves this suspended state and returns to its frantic pace? Keeping prayer and devotion time at the top of the list always works for me. Allowing God to order my days rather than the “to do” list never fails. God’s bright presence becomes evident in everything. Communing with those I love takes place without effort. Being frozen has recommitted me to time with God each day to be able to do what matters most.
How do you stay focused on what matters most? Share your experience here and breathe life and bring hope to others.