Titus 2 Men And Women

Teach Us To Number Our Days
by Julie Fink

A few weeks ago I began a wonderful study of Titus 2:3-5 using a guide entitled, God’s Priceless Woman.  How my heart yearns to be a godly older woman, and how I wonder if I’ll ever get there!

Take the other day for example.  My girls were invited to a birthday party for one of the workers at the library, and I was volunteered to bring muffins and monkey bread.  Being the proud owner of a CHAMP Kitchen Center and K-TEC Grain Grinder ~ I knew that my contribution would not only be good, but good for you (boy, was I in for a surprise).

I woke up earlier than usual that morning, had my quiet time with the Lord, then headed for the kitchen to begin making my masterpieces. 

(I skipped my shower for now, thinking I would have plenty of time before our family devotions at 8:00 a.m.).  

There I was in the kitchen ~ grinding my wheat, pre-heating my oven, and preparing the mixtures for my baking.  I was feeling just like the "Urban Homemaker" herself.  While I was in the middle of my mixing, my husband came into the kitchen to pour himself some coffee, my daughter came in to do her morning chores, and they both attempted to engage me in idle small talk.   Couldn’t they see I was busy?  Time was ticking, and I had more important things to do than stand around and visit with my family (or did I?).   As soon as I shooed them out of the kitchen, I got back to business ~ stir the muffins, mix the dough, melt the butter, and mix the sugar and cinnamon ~ everything had to be ready on time.   Thinking of the time, I looked up at the clock and noticed that it was already time for family devotions. 

"I’ll be there in a minute," I called, hurrying to pour my muffin batter in the pan so they would be baking while I joined my family (who were now waiting for me at the table) for devotions.  As I poured my batter into the muffin cups, I noticed that something strange was floating around in my fresh, made from scratch, good-for-you, banana muffins.  No problem, I thought, I’m sure they will dissolve during the baking process.  Time was ticking.  My husband and children were now glaring at me for not joining them on time, and I suddenly realized that my beautiful whole wheat dough (that I was planning to use for the monkey bread) would need another hour of rising and baking before it would be ready to be carried anywhere. 

At this point, everything turned from bad to worse.  My husband was now standing over me, my kitchen was a mess, my girls had to be at the library in 30 minutes, I still needed a shower, I made my family miss morning devotions, my husband didn’t get his breakfast . . . and I was still wondering about those little white blobs in my fresh, good-for-you baked banana muffins. 

Something was not right here.  This was not the picture of a successful urban homemaker.

All I could do was just stand there.  I didn’t even know what to say. 

I looked at my daughters who needed a pastry to bring to their party,

I looked at my husband who had to go to work without breakfast or family devotions, and I looked at myself, not showered, still wearing my nightgown, having just wasted two hours preparing something that amounted to nothing, and I felt like a fool.

So, I stopped what I was trying to do, looked into the eyes of my husband, and began to make excuses.  Maybe I needed to slow down a bit, maybe I should give up trying to do it "all", maybe I should settle for just getting by with the basics.  Who did I think I was, trying to change the metabolism of the world by the handiwork of my kitchen?  I was sure I was doomed to domestic failure.

Then I felt the warm embrace of my husband, and heard the gentle rebuke of his voice.  "Julie, it is not that you need to give up anything.  Everything you do we have prayed about and planned for.  It is just that you need to do everything during its appointed time.  You should have done this baking last night, so that you wouldn’t be rushing around this morning." 

Don’t you just love husbands?  They always seem to have the right perspective.

Well, I decided to listen to the wisdom of my husband that day, and almost immediately I started feeling better.  Even though I had failed my family that morning, I wasn’t a failure, I was just a victim of poor time management!  Suddenly it didn’t matter that I had to give my children money to purchase a store bought Danish to bring to their party at the library.  It didn’t matter that it was 8:30 in the morning and I looked like death warmed over.  It didn’t even matter that I had spent all morning preparing food that no one could use (although we were able to eat my delicious monkey bread later on).  

All that seemed to matter to me at that moment was that I was given a new chance to accomplish great things  . . . after I cleaned up my current mess, of course.  And that is exactly what I spent the rest of my morning doing.

How many times in our lives have we tried so hard to do everything perfect, only to land flat on our face?  How many times do we start laundry on Friday, only to finish it on Tuesday?   How many times do we go to bed with chores undone, correspondence unanswered, and telephone calls that need to be returned?  Every one of us has days, (sometimes weeks), that are filled with chaos ~ this is just a natural part of regular life.  We only need to worry when chaos becomes the pattern of our regular life.   Then we are in trouble.  The key to avoiding this is allowing God to teach us to number our days.

So teach me to number my days Lord, that I may apply my heart unto wisdom.  Teach me to put first things first.  It is much bigger than serving You, my family, then others.  You must be a part of every facet of my life!  Teach me to rise early and spend my first moments alone with You.   This is where I gather my direction and strength for the day.  Teach me to be a helper to my family.  Help me to accomplish the many tasks that You have given to me in an orderly and timely fashion.  Help me to say no to wasting time on the telephone, leisure reading, and unnecessary errands.   There is so much that I must accomplish each day with my time.  Help me to be humble enough to accept help when I need it.  Sometimes I need an extra appliance, a helping hand from a friend or the children, and sometimes I need to hire someone to assist me in my responsibilities.  Help me to remember that I am a Home Manager, not just a hired hand.  Lord please teach me to learn how to relax.  Sometime I get so busy that I forget to take the time to sit for a moment and enjoy the time that You have given to me for rest.  Help me to spend more time eating right, exercising regularly, and grooming myself so that I feel good about the way that I look (especially in front of my family).   It is easy for me to forget about myself in the midst of serving others.  And Lord, please help me to bring all my troubles to You.  Sometimes I get involved with sticky situations and relationships, and it is easy form me to exhaust emotional energy that I simply can’t spare worrying about them.

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