"You don't own your time."
That was the message I took from the homily last Sunday. The father of our youth minister, who is also a deacon, preached to us. I was in tears during the entire homily.
Yes, we don't own our time. It is a gift given to us by God. He continued to illustrate time by saying that we had 86,400 seconds to every day and that even though we don't own our time, we can choose what to do with it. We can choose to answer God's call to love Him and our neighbours with the time he has given us.
He opened with a passage from Isaiah 6:8
I was particularly touched by the message that when we say yes to a stranger's call for help and we give them the time, we say to God, "Here am I. Send me!" It is to say that you have shared a piece of your time, a gift of your life with another to be an instrument of love to another person.
This past week, after hearing this message, I had started reflecting if I had given enough time to the call of God.
God answered me.
Monday.
I received a gift from a friend who had just gone to Portugal. She considers me a special friend to her and I consider her to be special to me. She is a gift I am blessed to have in my life. She is also my Spanish tandem which makes it all the more exciting to learn Spanish.
Later that day, I receive a call from a lady I met at JFK International Airport in New York. She is the mother of one of my neighbours. What a small world?! She had remembered me during her stay in the Philippines and brought me a sugary treat. We had spent only a few minutes conversing in the airport yet she invites me over to her daughter's house here and shares a meal with me.
Earlier that day, I also receive a vote of confidence on my writing that after years, a note I created in 2012 continued to touch her until today. I felt so special that my words could touch people and of course, the credit goes to God who is only using me.
Tuesday.
I continue to think about the blessings God has given me and how my time has been spent on this earthly life.
Wednesday.
I receive a call from a friend who is now in Hungary. I had written about this friend in this blog a few years back and somehow, we are connected. I think of her and then all of a sudden, I receive a text message. She said that I sometimes cross her mind too. Then today, Wednesday, I think of her and she calls me from Hungary. She asks how I am and we exchange stories.
====
The message is loud and clear that somehow I have been sharing my time in the way God wants me to. I feel validated. Thank you Lord for giving me some time on this earth and hopefully with the remaining time I have, I can continue to answer your call to send me to those who need You in their lives. Let me also be open to Your presence in my life by letting other people share their time with me.
I know it has been ages since I wrote about You or about anything but thank you for reminding me that you have given me the talent to write and I should use that for your great glory.
Thank you for my friends, especially mken, Boots, who has encouraged me to write and to all my friends who said I should write a book. I am going to.
====
And to end my note, I share this message on the importance of time taken from the Internet:
Imagine there is a bank which credits your account each morning with $86,400, carries over no balance from day to day, allows you to keep no cash balance, and every evening cancels whatever part of the amount you had failed to use during the day.
What would you do?
Draw out every cent, of course!
Well, everyone has such a bank. It's name is time.
Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds.
Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose.
It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft.
Each day it opens a new account for you.
Each night it burns the records of the day.
If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours.
There is no going back. There is no drawing against the tomorrow.
You must live in the present on today's deposits.
Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success!
The clock is running. Make the most of today.
To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train.
To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident.
To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.
Treasure every moment that you have! And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time.
And remember, time waits for no one.
Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is a mystery.
Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present.
That was the message I took from the homily last Sunday. The father of our youth minister, who is also a deacon, preached to us. I was in tears during the entire homily.
Yes, we don't own our time. It is a gift given to us by God. He continued to illustrate time by saying that we had 86,400 seconds to every day and that even though we don't own our time, we can choose what to do with it. We can choose to answer God's call to love Him and our neighbours with the time he has given us.
He opened with a passage from Isaiah 6:8
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"When we share our time, we answer the call of God "Whom shall I send?" with "Here am I. Send me!"
I was particularly touched by the message that when we say yes to a stranger's call for help and we give them the time, we say to God, "Here am I. Send me!" It is to say that you have shared a piece of your time, a gift of your life with another to be an instrument of love to another person.
This past week, after hearing this message, I had started reflecting if I had given enough time to the call of God.
God answered me.
Monday.
I received a gift from a friend who had just gone to Portugal. She considers me a special friend to her and I consider her to be special to me. She is a gift I am blessed to have in my life. She is also my Spanish tandem which makes it all the more exciting to learn Spanish.
Later that day, I receive a call from a lady I met at JFK International Airport in New York. She is the mother of one of my neighbours. What a small world?! She had remembered me during her stay in the Philippines and brought me a sugary treat. We had spent only a few minutes conversing in the airport yet she invites me over to her daughter's house here and shares a meal with me.
Earlier that day, I also receive a vote of confidence on my writing that after years, a note I created in 2012 continued to touch her until today. I felt so special that my words could touch people and of course, the credit goes to God who is only using me.
Tuesday.
I continue to think about the blessings God has given me and how my time has been spent on this earthly life.
Wednesday.
I receive a call from a friend who is now in Hungary. I had written about this friend in this blog a few years back and somehow, we are connected. I think of her and then all of a sudden, I receive a text message. She said that I sometimes cross her mind too. Then today, Wednesday, I think of her and she calls me from Hungary. She asks how I am and we exchange stories.
====
The message is loud and clear that somehow I have been sharing my time in the way God wants me to. I feel validated. Thank you Lord for giving me some time on this earth and hopefully with the remaining time I have, I can continue to answer your call to send me to those who need You in their lives. Let me also be open to Your presence in my life by letting other people share their time with me.
I know it has been ages since I wrote about You or about anything but thank you for reminding me that you have given me the talent to write and I should use that for your great glory.
Thank you for my friends, especially mken, Boots, who has encouraged me to write and to all my friends who said I should write a book. I am going to.
====
And to end my note, I share this message on the importance of time taken from the Internet:
Realize the value of time. Time in perspective.
Imagine there is a bank which credits your account each morning with $86,400, carries over no balance from day to day, allows you to keep no cash balance, and every evening cancels whatever part of the amount you had failed to use during the day.
What would you do?
Draw out every cent, of course!
Well, everyone has such a bank. It's name is time.
Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds.
Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose.
It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft.
Each day it opens a new account for you.
Each night it burns the records of the day.
If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours.
There is no going back. There is no drawing against the tomorrow.
You must live in the present on today's deposits.
Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success!
The clock is running. Make the most of today.
To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train.
To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident.
To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.
Treasure every moment that you have! And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time.
And remember, time waits for no one.
Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is a mystery.
Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present.
