One Drop at a Time

"Most time is wasted, not in hours, but in minutes. A bucket with a small hole in the bottom gets just as empty as a bucket that is deliberately kicked over." ~ Paul J. Meyer

It's a great quote. It's true. And with so many distractions at our fingertips, it's extremely easy to do. I want to be very intentional and present in my relationships, and whatever work God has for me to accomplish.

However, when I first read that quote, I felt a bit anxious. There's a part of me, or perhaps an enemy, that often whispers "failure". I am never doing things well enough. Even if I am doing really well in one area, I see the other places where I fall short...self-condemnation begins. I'm tired of it. It really is exhausting to the soul.

All of the sudden, I thought of how this quote could be flipped! Think of all the ways I'm filling buckets...one drop at a time. Yes! I am. I know I am. It's the little every day moments, the ordinary tasks that I am participating in, that are building up to a life well lived.

I greet my kids with a smile in the morning. I try to look them in the eyes whenever they talk to me. I read to them. I laugh with them. I tie shoes, make snacks, fold clothes, fill cups...

The only way any of these will FILL, is if I have JOY. My kids won't remember what I did for them, but they will remember how I made them feel.

These ordinary tasks can be opportunities to express love, if I can do them with joy. I can't look at them as interruptions to my life. Otherwise, it will be "wasted time". These ordinary moments are opportunities, and they are all around me...at my fingertips.

I came across these two quotes later that same week...perfect.

"Little drops of water, little grains of sand, make the mighty ocean, and the pleasant land..." ~ Julia Abigail Fletcher Carney
 
"Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things, I am temped to think there are no little things." ~ Bruce Barton

I don't need to strive through the mundane. I can choose to see the beauty in all those simple moments added together.
If ever I can love, I'm living life to the full. That's why I exist. I live to love. My life won't be wasted!