Don't Forget to Turn Ahead Your Clocks!

“Don’t forget to change your clocks!”

The moment I saw that sentence pop up on my computer this past Saturday night, I panicked. Daylight Savings time – already?!? I had just spent the last 14 hours traveling back to Staunton from Chicago and the last thing I expected to see when I turned on my computer to check e-mail was this announcement.

Luckily for me – and all of you who would have had to witness me deprived of a precious hour of sleep following a long and tiring day of travel – this reminder was a week early. We won’t spring forward until this Saturday evening. Once I realized the actual date, my heart rate dropped back down but this time thing was still on my mind. I had just spent a week of vacation doing nothing but relax – I read, watched movies, spent time with good friends, went to the spa (thanks to the aforementioned good friends’ generosity), and cooked. It was a perfect vacation – one where I could spend a lot of quality time resting in God. And then, the moment I get back, time – and how we’re losing it – slams right into my face. Thwack!

This Lent I have chosen to take up the practice up spending at least ten minutes a day intentionally listening for God. Most days I do pretty well with this practice, though not all. This recent bout with TIME! has reinforced how important such practices are for me – and not just during Lent. During my week away, I just was and most of the time, I was with God in a very aware way. During my weeks running around church and town, always go-go-going, I’m not as aware of my being with God. I’m not as aware of God’s being with me.

Lent is already half-way over which means my Lenten observance will not be around much longer. I’m thinking about doing something a little different this year. I’d like to pick up an Easter observance, and a Pentecost observance, and even an Ordinary Time observance! I’d like to keep being intentional about listening for God every single day. And I’d like to invite you to join me. Maybe you won’t spend 10 minutes each day listening – maybe just a few, maybe a whole hour – but I hope you take time out of each day to really stop and listen. God may have something exciting to say – it’s true – but even if God doesn’t, each minute you spend just listening for God, just being with God, is a minute of time well spent.