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No More Busy Seasons


Here's a little something something I wrote up for our church newsletter. I figured you might like it here as well.

Can we all agree to officially let go of certain phrases? I know everyone likely has their own peeve over a certain word or phrase. One of mine is “this is a busy season for us.”

First of all, I don’t know if you’re referring to season by weather, by sport, or by when all your reports are due. That’s right students; reports never go away, even after you graduate college. Get used to it.

I’m not here to judge our busyness. I’m busy, you’re busy, we’re all busy. For families with children, that’s just part of life, even when you limit each child to one extra-curricular activity per season. Yes, I said season.

So, if we’re all so busy, how do we do anything? Perhaps without realizing it, we make time for the things that are important to us. Some of those things give us natural reasons to make time for them. For instance, a job gives us money, so we can pay for pesky things like mortgages and groceries. Making time to clean (our bodies, our homes, our clothes) makes it possible for people to hang out with us without gagging.

We make time for church because God is important to us. He has made a difference in our lives, so we take time to worship and serve Him. We just completed another year of kidZone, our midweek children’s ministry, where almost 20 teens and adults made time to serve every week. Why? Because, on some level, they value children.

Do you know who else is busy? Don’t think too hard because I’m going to tell you. It’s the Church! In fact, it’s our Church! We have lots of different groups and ministries going on, to various ages, to people inside and outside the church, for people who have a little time and for others who seemingly have no time.

We have these ministries because they matter. We have these ministries because we love God and we want to see others come to love God. More and Better is what I see in our church mission statement.

Here’s how the Apostle Paul wrote it:

Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. ~2 Timothy 4:2

Paul was writing to Timothy, but the encouragement is for us as well. So, I know you’re busy. But what are you going to make time for? What I’m really asking is; what do you value?
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