A Vacation From My Problems

One of the aspects of being single is that I can do anything I want. This freedom allows for some spontaneity in my life. Take yesterday for example, my nephew Judah was given some quarters and he was jonesin' to buy a donut. After work that day, I took my nephews and niece to the donut shop. Earlier this week, I was in a counseling session (I was counseling) that took an unusual three hours. Two days before, I went to the gym for just under two hours and arrived home after dinner time.

To me, my most precious commodity is time. Money is not a precious commodity because if I don't have time to spend it, what is precious about it? As a kid, I remember hearing some celebrity (Sylvester Stallone comes to mind but I'm not sure if it was him) say that he didn't really have time to enjoy his money because he was always working. Additionally, it's not as if I'm making money hand over fist to enjoy its benefits. However, when I have time, I try to make the most of it or I soak it up with the things I want to do-like, reading.

Working overtime every day, plus teaching at LMC, being involved in church ministries, staying in touch with family, the day-to-day routines, etc. can eat up any time for relaxing and sometimes resting. The busyness some days make me want to scream, "Am I ever going to get a break?!" Okay, okay maybe scream is an exaggeration and a bit dramatic.

It seems that in the last 15 years, a new phrase was invented, "Me Time". The meaning of this phrase is self-explanitory. I've heard it used within the Christian and secular setting as if it's a personal right. This concept is really a focus on self, but there is this assumption that we've been doing everything for everyone else and finally, just once, we just need to indulge in tending to our needs-desires, really. "I just need a break" is another euphemism for "Me Time". This may sound harsh, but it isn't a biblical mindset.

I'm not denying that there are times when rest is needed in our lives. After all, God rested on the seventh day, right? Wrong. I mean, He did rest, but that we should rest on the seventh day is a fallacy. I need to keep in mind that that seventh day is a day that is holy, set apart. Just as the Lord took great joy in His creation on the seventh day, we too are to marvel at His holiness. The seventh day is about Him, not us. So, if we are working on the seventh day, we are to do it for His glory-it's an act of worship.

A friend once told me, that our goal here on earth, is not to stop working, true rest isn't found here on earth. Our mantra shouldn't be the same as Bill Murray's (from the movie,"What About Bob?"):"I'm taking a vacation from my problems..." Instead, we should be invested in doing the work of the Lord, and if it means working hard to the bone with barely a break, then God will have to give us the strength to do it.

Having freedom and some time is a perk of the single person's life. There have been times where I wouldn't mind experiencing a "Freaky Friday"* moment with my sister (well, maybe not the number of kids so close in age) and have the life of a mom and enjoy marriage. However, God has richly blessed me with freedom and the freedom in however I use my time.

Sometimes, I struggle with remembering that my precious commodity is not my own-it never was in the first place. The gift of freedom and time is a gift from the Lord. Instead of saying, "Oh, I need some time to myself" or "Oh, I just need a break", the neon sign in my head should be blinking, "Worship" and "Thanksgiving".

The Lord knows all of our needs, He gives and takes away. Our job is to glorify Him in everything we do and wherever we are (theoretically and physically), use our resources in a way that honors Him and remember that once again it's all about Him (why is this so hard to do??)-that's why we exist in the first place.

Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. Psalm 121:4

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20


Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:4-8

*Freaky Friday is a movie that is about a mom and daughter switching places for a day.