What Time Will Teach You
I began my missionary service in August 2024 thinking I would have evenings to pursue some of my passions and one day each week to visit places of interest. That was not an unrealistic expectation because I had heard from others who had served, and this was their experience. What I didn’t know or understand is that I shouldn’t have expected to have someone else’s experience.
I find myself 18 months into a 23-month service assignment realizing that I let perception cloud what was real. Time has slipped by in a much different way than I anticipated. Days often felt as long as decades. The work is HARD! I went from many interests that I have pursued for some time and for which I have developed some substantial skills, to a physical environment that was sedentary (in front of a computer for eight hours) and work for which I have no knowledge, skills, or experience. And then add to that only 6 hours of slide deck training for a financial system that was in the process of an upgrade, and no live person onsite who could help me.
I actually cried twice because I felt so lost and incapable. At 6 months in I finally felt like I could accomplish some of the work with a bit of confidence, but every day was another onion layer of tasks and minutia that I had no inkling existed. I don’t think there is a word to describe my level of overwhelm and lack of being grounded.
Fast forward to me at 18 months with only 5 months left on the job. I find myself thinking about how I can transition a new person into this work so they have a better experience than I did (not that my experience was bad - just hard). Every few minutes I think of another bit of the work that I have learned that isn’t in print anywhere. I wonder how to capture all the experiential knowledge I have gained. And then how do I share that completely enough for it to be useful to someone else.
I have days like today with two tasks on my list, but somehow those two take ALL DAY! Then there are days that have tasks that should take ten hours of work that are complete in six. MIND BOGGLING!
As a time management afficionado, I have felt so very often that I am an imposter. I should be able to get a handle on this!!!! But alas, it has not happened, and I find I am still trying to “figure it all out.”
Time has taught me that it is important, but it is not the end all and be all of our lives. Time is a handy tool for so many things - motivation, accountability, clarity, etc. However, as much as those things can improve our lives, time should never rule your life. As I set time outlines for my work and activities, I quickly learned that it is a fickle friend at best, and a fiend at worst. It can create highs of accomplishment and lows of what seems like failure and incompetence.
Do I regret the way some of my time was spent during the last 18 months - OH, YES! So many blogs that did not get written. Some many wonders that were not seen, heard, or experienced. But I learned many things about me - who I was (and wasn’t), how I handle stress (or don’t), how important my yard activities at home were to my mental and physical health, how to hear that all-important guiding influence of God in my mind and heart, to name only a few.
I know that my time here has been beneficial to many. I am told that quite often. The value is not in the amount of time I had, but in the fact that I was given this time to be involved with other people in so many ways. And it is those relationships that are the most important. They are the most deserving of my time and yours. The best spent time is in service to others - lifting, comforting, bringing relief and respite, joy and gladness.
So from this time manager to you - never let the management of the time you have become more important than the blessing of others’ lives that happens when you dedicate your precious time to being with them. Service to others is ALWAYS the wisest use of our limited quantity of time.
