Making the Most of Every Opportunity?

My life verse is Ephesians 5:15 – 17  “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”

If you know me, I run most of my life through this filter.

Am I making the most of this opportunity?

Am I wasting time or redeeming time?

Is this activity worth my time? 

Is it God-honoring?

There are so many good things in this world to spend my days doing.

But are they the BEST!?

I learned this saying years ago, “Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best!”

So this is my goal.

Do I always get it right? Nah.

But it is what I strive for and where I aim my arrow and shoot.

So as I was planning this summer, I used this filter.  We started off the summer in Mexico on a house build project.  After that the kids had a week of serving and attending VBS at our church.  We packed our bags for two weeks in upstate New York at a Christian camp my husband grew up at. At Camp of the Woods, God is the center each day.  The last two weeks of the trip, we have traveled down the East Coast on a history field trip.  We wanted to live out the history we had learned about this year. A hands on approach to studies about our founding fathers who loved God and built our country upon biblical principles.  Another goal was to fellowship with friends and family along the way.

I don’t tell you this to brag about what we did this summer, but simply to point out the thought and planning that went into each week.  The question asked, “Am I making the most of my time with my kids each day this summer? Am I being wise?”

These last days of summer will be spent at home more, as we are bringing home a souvenir puppy from our time on the Amish farm in Pennsylvania.  The kids will get an opportunity to raise and train another being.  Right now, he is very sick with "Puppy Strangles" so we are nursing him back to health.  God knows what our family needs. 

As I am looking to the fall, how can we make the most of every opportunity?  Looking at my children's schedules, why are we doing this activity?  Are the days too full?  Do we have at least 5 family dinners a week? Where are my priorities? 

The grid of Ephesians 5:15-17 helps me put things into perspective.

What about you?  How do you make the most of every opportunity?  I would love to hear different ideas on this topic.

When Jeanna is not writing, speaking, event planning, or homeschooling, she can be found scrapbooking her life, redecorating her home, loving on her husband, planning fun events for her kids or eating healthy to stay cancer-free!

Jackie's Journey: Sloth!

I saw my first sloth while traveling down the potholed Panamanian Highway!   It was pitiful…my heart ached to pick it up and lift it into the tree it was approaching.  Toiling with every move, I wanted to hurry its journey along, be a good servant and speed him on his way.  He sluggishly lifted his head and peered up at me…I imagined he was beckoning my help.  However, his long claws and musty smell made him unapproachable.  His matted greasy blanket of a greenish colored coat made me hyperventilate in the heat and humidity where we stood.  His slow motion gave new definition to idleness! He seemed so needy.  I just wanted to fix it all!

Have you ever been there?

What do you think of when you look at this mammal? 

I envisioned something creeping up on this sleeping animal and his not being able to defend himself.  The sloth, I understand, sleeps 15 hours day and night!  This motionless mammal is so still that the moths move into his thick hair!  He hangs upside down 90% of his life cycle and eating is his primary occupation. When food becomes scarce, he goes hungry…a sloth will die of starvation if food is not always within grasp!!  

“Slothfulness brings deep sleep; and an idle soul

will suffer hunger” Proverbs 19: 15.

 I love to study the world of nature for insights and analogies.  As I watched the mild mannered sloth struggle to move, I realized there is a lesson to be learned.

In extraordinary times God looks for extraordinary men and women that He can count on.  This remnant does not need great intellect, talent, or resources.  But they do need to be obedient channels through which God can show himself strong. II Cor. 12: 9-10

For most of us the enemy of disobedience is the willful rebellion of crippling slothfulness.  It is crippling because its subtle characteristics are usually unrecognized until the pattern of laziness is set!

Would you consider yourself a lazy person?

As moms, we don’t like to think of ourselves as being lazy! Our lives are busy from sun-up to sundown….

Listen to the 6 symptoms of a slothful mom:

• She hears God’s Word and walks away with no change
• She does not seek the Lord with her whole heart (guilty of little surrenders)
• She does not diligently examine her life for growth and transformation
• She does not consistently engraft the Word into her mind, will and emotions
• She does not earnestly share the truth with others
• She forgets where she came from and is self-deceived Jas. 1:22-24.

Life is a race against time.  We are called to be “doers of the Word”.  We will win the race if we realize the following truths about respecting time:

• It is limited! (Make the most of what is left!)

 Do you procrastinate, live for the moment and let the future take its course?

• Death is certain!   What will your legacy be?

Are you a person of example or excuses?  Are you spiritually prepared?

“It is appointed unto man once to die and after that the judgment…” Heb.9:27

• Christ’s return is even more certain
  • Are you counting the days, aware of His return?
• God determines our days and time is short!
  • Are you busy with the task on God’s heart?  Are your children prepared?

“The length of our days is seventy years or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass and we fly away”  Psalm 90:10

We are moms with a destiny!  How productive are we? 

Days must be counted. (1 week has 168 hours!)

How much time do we spend eating, sleeping playing, on social media?

              How much is left for productive work? Meditation, Reading the Word, Prayer…? 

“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Psalm 90:12

• Our time requires accountability.  (1 week has 168 hours!)
  • Do you rationalize your need to be held accountable?
• Time is given with purpose for God’s Work.

Are you busy with the task on God’s heart? Or are you preoccupied with your own busy life?

“…The night cometh, when no man can work.” John 9: 4 

We cannot recover lost time!

Are you winning the race?

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is discipling and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

Recharge Your Batteries

I have often thought moms do little for themselves.

We are busy taking care of children, being a wife and focused on keeping a home.  Yes, we are doing Kingdom work right in our homes.  And it is a 24/7 job!

But, honestly, are you tired?

Are you burned out?

Have you snapped at your children lately?  Or your husband?

A few weeks ago, in Yosemite, I stole the time to take one of the art classes in the National Park – four hours long!  My mom and friends watched the kids as I sat under the trees painting Half Dome.

I learned to see the world from a contemporary modern artist.  While this is not my favorite medium, I learned something new.  I was able to reflect on the glory of God amidst the towering granite rocks and small wildflowers at my feet.  God’s majesty is everywhere in creation and painting it brings me closer to Him.

I did not feel guilty.  Perhaps years ago I would have, but now after cancer, I see the value in time away.  Time to breathe.  Time to reflect.  Not only do I strive to do this daily in a quiet time, but now I seek out opportunities that fill my soul regularly. 

I take time to recharge so when I am present with my family and my husband, I am truly present.

This is no easy task.  At home and in my life, there are thousands of things to do and lists to accomplish.  I have to carve out the time and make it a priority.  No one else will do this, but me!

So can I encourage you, moms of princesses and knights?

Can you take time for yourself this week?  And when you do, put into action 1 Cor. 10:31.  Find your place and “bring glory to God” wherever you are.

A couple of ideas:

1. Do something active.  Take an exercise class, ride your bike, or take a walk.
2. Do something soothing. Take a bubble bath. Go to the spa, or get a massage.  Go to coffee with a friend.
3. Do something outdoors.  Go to nature.  Wherever you live, God is there in His creation.  The mountains, the beach, the desert.  Find a quiet spot and journal, hike or paint.
4. Do something quiet.  Read a book alone with a candle lit and your favorite drink.  Watch the sunrise.
5. Do something creative.  Take the hobby out of the closet.  Start it up again: quilting, scrapbooking, pottery class, whatever makes you happy.

Our kids and our husbands love it when mom is happy and joyful. 

How will you find time for yourself this week?