How Do You Spend Your Time?

How do you spend your time?

A few weeks ago, during a visit with the neurologist, I was asked that question. How do you spend your time? When she asked me that question, I had to chuckle a little bit. At the time, I was still in speech therapy, so my answer went something like this:

On Monday I do laundry, and I have a nap. On Tuesday, I go to Therapy and then to the gym, and I have a nap. On Wednesday, I do my therapy homework, and I have a nap. On Thursday, I go to therapy and the gym, and I have a nap. And so goes the rest of the week.

During our previous road trip a couple of years ago, the question was "Won't you get bored?" My answer at the time was no. At the time I occupied myself in hotels with reading and writing, and while we were driving, I took lots of pictures.

On this trip, the question is a little different. I'm more often asked if I'm doing ok. I'm sure the question relates to being on the road so long while still recovering from my stroke. I spend my time a little differently than I did on the previous trip. There is much less reading than before, because reading is still very slow for me. But I am enjoying reading Joel Rosenburg's Without Warning. I began the book as we began our journey and have read 125 pages so far. In my "previous life", I would have read this and several other books by now. But that's not how things work in my new normal.

The difference between this trip and the previous one, is that a daily nap. Whether I'm here in the hotel while Al is working, or we're driving from one place to the next, the afternoon nap is a necessary part of life, whether on the road or at home.

Over the last few months, the question How do you spend your time? has often been asked, whether by doctor's or therapists or concerned friends. I answer the question these days differently than I might have answered it a few months ago. These days, I'm much more careful about how I spend my time. I give more careful thought to the choices I make, knowing that I have much less energy than I had before, and wanting to spend my time wisely.

Even for those of you who have never had a stroke, it's a good question. How do you spend your time?

How do you choose to spend your time? What is the value system that controls the choices you make? Are the choices you make about how you spend your time consistent with the values you profess? For example, as a follower of Christ, how much time and energy are you giving to the Word of God? Have you read your Bible today? Have you spent time in prayer?

Or are you just busy being busy?

Something to think about.

"As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God."
(Psalm 42:1 NASB)