making good use of my time

I have been on vacation for the last month and several times during the month I made
notes on topics for my blog! A step further into this new forum for communication!
One topic that swirled around in my mind and my soul several times was ʻmaking the
best use of my time.ʼ It is a phrase that I used for years as I worked in a program in the
United Methodist Church for the formation of clergy. What we now call Covenant
Connection was created in the ʼ70ʼs to nurture and evaluate persons who are in the final
stage prior to ordination as Elders. Those who supervised and coached these people
frequently asked each other, ʻIs he/she making good use of this time?ʼ We knew that
we were looking for clergy who could learn and grow, receive feedback and use it to
improve as pastors. We knew that we did not need clergy who werenʼt willing to work to
improve.

I found myself wondering if I was making good use of my time during my vacation! The
phrase came to me and I laughed. What would it mean to make good use of my time
away from work? A monthʼs vacation is a gracious gift from the church I serve and I do
want to misuse the time. I want the time to be meaningful (thereʼs another blog coming)
and I wanted to notice the days.

As the hours and days and weeks flew by I found myself wrestling internally as I
pondered what the best use of a vacation is. My Father used to say that he needed to
go to the beach to ʻre-charge his batteries.ʼ We all knew what he meant. For him that
meant walking on the beach, fishing, spending more time than usual with his family and
friends, eating shrimp and oysters, enjoying sunsets. Now that I go to my lakehouse on
vacation I find that I could spend all my time puttering there, organizing, cleaning, rearranging
furniture, de-cluttering. I discovered this summer that some of those tasks
some of the time are wonderful and refreshing, but day in and day out, a vacation at the
lakehouse feels more like work if all I do is clean up and organize.
What I know now is that when I am on vacation I need to have some days that are
unscheduled, some days that are filled with activities that I donʼt do as much of during a
work week, like swimming and reading non-work related books, and some days in which
I actually do nothing! Doing nothing productive, that is. Days in which I linger over the
cup of coffee watching the deer, birds, squirrels, road runners, and my 2 cats living life.
Days in which I sit on my porch and read until I decide itʼs time to do something else
and I have to wonder for awhile what I really want to do next. Days in which I ʻwaste
time with God.ʼ Rather than fill my days with doctor appointments and organize my
important papers in my home office, I need time to be.
Is it making good use of my time? I believe so. It ʻs sabbath rest and God knows how
important it is for us all. I hope that you have time to ponder what the best use of your
time on vacation might be! Let me know what you discover!