Last week I had an early meeting 10 minutes from my house. So rather than drive 15 minutes to the office, to work for 30 minutes, and drive 20 minutes back to my meeting I decided to work from home for an hour.
I was working away and things were going good when my little man ran upstairs and asked, “Daddy can play me?” That’s how he asks if you can play with him. I said “sorry buddy daddy is working.” He said “oh…well maybe soon you play me.” And he scampered off.
Then 10 minutes before I had to leave, Hudson ran up again and he said, “Daddy its soon. You play me?” He looked at me with really hopeful eyes, and said again “Daddy play me”. And in that moment I had a choice for how to spend the next ten minutes of my day.
I could have spent 10 more minutes creating the PowerPoint presentation I was working on. I could have spent 10 more minutes answering emails or checking Facebook. Or I could spend 10 minutes and play with my son.
The thing I realized is that not every 10 minutes is the same, because spending some 10 minutes differently can leave a bigger impact. I could spend time on PowerPoint, emails, or other admin. but doing that wouldn’t change my day at all. But spending 10 minutes with my son would totally change his day. He would know that he is important. He would know that he is loved. He would know that while dad does work, and loves his job, he loves his family even more.
The time spent would be the same, but the impact would be different.
So I took 10 minutes and played trucks with my son and then left to work.
The point is simple: not every 10 minutes is the same. Some time spent leaves a greater impact, and a greater legacy. So my question for you is simple: how are you spending your time? Are you putting time into the places where it has the greatest impact? Are you focused on “just getting stuff done” or leaving an impact? Is all your time taken up with “stuff”, leaving no time left for relationships? Moses says to “number our days” Psalm 90:12, basically reminding us to spend our time wisely with purpose. Today I learned to “number my minutes” making sure each moment is spent well because in the end what will matter isn’t PowerPoint but the love I show to my son.
In case you’re wondering, yes of course I did get my PowerPoint done. I was able to spend an extra 10 minutes at work and respond to all my emails. But more importantly, I was able to spend 10 minutes with my son and remind him of something very important. That any 10 minutes spent with him is never wasted. While there is always lots of other things to get done, there won’t always be opportunities to play trucks with my son.
So today, get your work done for sure. That’s important. But don’t forget to put time into what matters most. The relationships around you and the people who would love for you to take ten minutes and hang out with them. Or as my son says, “want to play with me?
Plattsville Church 