As I looked at my to-do list for the day, I took a deep breath and was already overwhelmed. It’s the beginning of the day, how could I be overwhelmed already? I knew I was looking at another long day filled to the brim with tasks and the busyness of life. I took another deep breath and began to tackle the day. Later in the morning I got a message from a friend asking to get together for lunch. Lunch? Who has time for lunch these days? I waited to respond and went on about my day.
As I continued my tasks for that day I kept thinking about the message from my friend for lunch. It has been so long since I have even seen her. And I can’t remember the last time I took time to sit down and have lunch with someone. Life has just been too busy. When did I get too busy with life to have a life? When did the important things like relationships and fellowship become so unimportant? I began to realize that I not only wanted to go to lunch with my friend but that I needed to. I needed to start taking control of my life. I needed to start setting boundaries on the busy and focus on living. I know that in life there has to be some of the busyness. I know that having a job, having responsibilities, being an adult, etc. includes a certain amount of time in my life. I also know that I’ve allowed many of those things to take over more time then necessary. It is time to pause life to have a life.
I quickly responded with an emphatic “YES!”. I decided to make the time to meet with this friend. I went to lunch with a friend that day. I enjoyed every second of it. We encouraged each other, listened to each other, supported one another, and prayed for each other. All in a short lunch. An hour out of my day to show love, care and invest in that friend was well worth it. I realized that time must come from something else which made me really evaluate my daily schedule and start making some changes. If we don’t have time for a quick lunch with a friend now and then, what do we have time for? If we don’t make it a priority to fellowship with one another what does that say about our priorities? I decided from time to time I’m going to have to pause life to have a life.
