time is money

a repost from 2 years ago that is even more poignant now…

Time is money

So state the sages, urging us to so many wise actions. 

Do not waste time - 

Be patient with your investments. Spend less than you make. Have a plan. Make your money work for you. Save even a little bit consistently, give yourself plenty of time and watch your earnings grow.

Such is the counsel of those savvy on life's matters.

Time is money.

As though it were a mathematical equation - Time = money.  Which would mean that what is true of one side of the math sentence is true of the other.  

Time is money.

Except that it's not.

It can't be borrowed from another person, to be repaid with interest.

It can't be stored up for a busy season or saved by sacrificing in the present for future use.

And it surely can't grow if I stash it away and don't spend it.

Oh, that it were really true!  Just think what we could do!

Ideas spin out of my fingers faster than I can even type.  I know all sorts of ways I would massage that algebraic statement....

If I could treat time the same as money, I'd borrow some sleep hours from a few teenagers and gift them to a bleary-eyed mommy of a newborn.  I would shorten the minutes in line when I am in a hurry and invest them instead with a couple of dear friends over dessert.
Or take several hours from a cold winter night and add them instead to not-long-enough summers. I'd definitely extend the season of Shamrock Pool by lots of days, shortening flu season in the process.  

If I were the investment banker of time, I'd like to move the hours of unexplained sleeplessness of middle age and trade them in for leisurely Saturday morning sleep-ins. 

If time were able to be saved, stored, and moved around like money, I would want to stretch out the times when my kids are here...and I would be glad to take the hours away from the times the elderly spend alone.

If only we could add some days to an otherwise premature labor...and subtract some months of someone suffering from infertility. Or do away altogether with the times when hurtful words were spoken while we add longed for minutes to send someone we cherish off to Eternity with all the love we meant to speak before.

If time were really money, I could give it away when I had more than I needed or borrow it from someone who had a lot or at least move it around from season to season.

But it's not.

So I can't.

No, time really isn't money so it cannot be loaned or borrowed or rearranged...but it can be squandered or spent or invested.

Ephesians 5:15, 16 urges us to Be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil.

Redeeming the time.  Exchanging it for something of more value.  Making the most of the time we have.

Investing our time in the lives of other people by encouraging them, providing for them, sharing the Truth of His Word.

Endowing time to bear the burdens of another, to pray fervently, to give sacrificially, to worship wholeheartedly.  Valuing Eternal time by repaying evil with good.

I'll focus on that for today. Because, although time really isn't money, it is a commodity by which I can gain Heavenly treasure.

I'll focus today on the time I've redeemed because I know that time is not for sale.  If it were, I'd trade a million earthly dollars for some more car time with my non-licensed drivers.

Car time is so precious.  Maybe it's that the audience is captive or the possibility of a run through Chick-fil-A's drive through increases conversation amenability but it seems that some of the best talk times for parents is in the car.  Or maybe it's because the car is where most of the time is spent!

Whatever makes it so, car time is precious. Whether it's a car load of my kids and their friends or one solo offspring, car time is a cherished thing.  I learn so much. I enjoy it so much. 

And I am gonna miss it like crazy.

Today, the days and years have accumulated and my 29 year stint as a taxi driver for my kids has ended..."the baby" gained transportation freedom today. Of all the firsts and lasts of parenthood, I think maybe car time was one of the most precious investment opportunities ever available to me. 

Time isn't money.  I can't borrow from somewhere else and tack it on to delay my retirement. But I will cherish what I gained from car time. The insights. The memories. The togetherness. The fun!

And maybe I'll come out of retirement for a second career...is Uber hiring?