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document.write('<h2>Father Time -- Giving the Clock Back to God</h2><p><strong><em>by <a target="_blank" href="mailto:CajunWriter@aol.');
document.write('com?Subject=Your%20article%20on%20ParishWebmaster.com"><font color="#000000">Christine G. Law</font></a></em></strong></');
document.write('p><blockquote><P><i>"To everything - turn, turn, turn&nbsp;<br>There is a season - turn, turn, turn&nbsp;<br>And a t');
document.write('ime for every purpose under heaven"<br></i>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ~ The Byrds, 1965</P></blockquote><P><a href="http');
document.write('://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/ecclesiastes/ecclesiastes3.htm">Ecclesiastes 3:1-8</a> </P><P>It seems that the seasons com');
document.write('e much faster as I get older. It used to be that spring took a hundred years to melt the frost of Old Man Winter\'s coat.');
document.write(' Now, as I rush about my day-to-day routine, I am constantly wondering where all the time has gone? It is inevitable tha');
document.write('t at the end of each day there remains at least a dozen unaccomplished tasks on my list of things to do. There is never ');
document.write('enough time for all of the must do\'s in my life. </P><h3>A Time to Build Up</h3><P>When I was a child, I used to lov');
document.write('e to erect tall buildings with those colorful wooden blocks that my Papaw insisted were meant for boys only. I\'d spend h');
document.write('ours meticulously adding one block at a time so as to color code each section perfectly.  I could usually time my brothe');
document.write('r\'s entrance right down to that final moment when I set the last block into place. He\'d run screaming into the room and ');
document.write('pounce on my masterpiece with the gleeful malice of timeless sibling rivalry. He\'d laugh. I\'d cry. And, the cycle would ');
document.write('begin all over again.</P><P>As an adult, I often find myself attempting to color code all of the obligations in my lif');
document.write('e as I carefully categorized those wooden blocks so long ago. I have an obsessive need to have everything around me in o');
document.write('rganized bundles -- but life doesn\'t always work out that way. </P><P>We live in an increasingly busy world. Everythin');
document.write('g is fast-paced and on-the-go. Even our food is pre-packaged and pre-cooked. Modern technology tells us when to rise, wh');
document.write('en to eat, when to sleep, and in what order to do each. Our bustling capitalistic society no longer recognizes the worth');
document.write(' of leisure. Instead of quality, our lives are increasingly packaged into quantitative parcels and measured by how much ');
document.write('more of ourselves we can give. It no longer matters whether our time is valuable, only that we squeeze out more of it in');
document.write(' menial obligations.</P><h3>A Time to Break Down</h3><P>I have often noticed that it is those times when I am out of');
document.write(' sync with my surroundings that I miss out on my relationship with God the most. It begins slowly with a missed prayer o');
document.write('n a rushed morning or a hastily blessed child at bedtime when I am at my most exhausted. Before long, the entire family ');
document.write('has lost track of the Lord\'s presence in our home. </P><P>The reality of modern society sneaks in to do its damage whe');
document.write('n we are at our most vulnerable. It begins with a skipped breakfast and the promise to pick something up on the way. A f');
document.write('orgotten lunch is remedied with a grabbed snack from the vending machine.<br>A broken curfew excused by an empty gas tan');
document.write('k. </P><P>Satan has many devices for tempting the preoccupied soul. We need only let our guard down the tiniest bit an');
document.write('d the king of chaos reigns supreme. When we lose sight of God, we lose sight of our priorities as well. When our resolve');
document.write(' falters, insecurities slip in to wreck havoc on our neat and orderly lives. Before we realize it, we are in a rat race ');
document.write('with no apparent finish line in sight.</P><h3>A Time to Let Go</h3><P>Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said "God does ');
document.write('not ask us to be successful, only that we be faithful." If we turn our eyes, our minds, and our hearts back to God, succ');
document.write('ess will come. It might not come when we expect it or desire it. Rather, God will provide what he thinks we need at each');
document.write(' turning point of our lives. We must remember that our time is not our own. We are given time here on earth as part of a');
document.write(' bigger picture. Our journey begins and ends with our Lord as the timekeeper.</P><P>It is difficult to remember that G');
document.write('od is ever present when we are frazzled and feeling rushed to accomplish all of our set daily goals. Letting go and lett');
document.write('ing God tends to become a last resort rather than regular habit. In those times, we need to take a deep breath and refoc');
document.write('us. We can keep God at the helm of our lives if we but take tiny measures to make it happen.</P><P>If God is in contro');
document.write('l of our clocks, then we need not "make time" for the Lord. With God as our timekeeper, He is ever present for us to tur');
document.write('n to. He is but a breath away to help us through another hectic day. Father Time opens our eyes and closes them. What we');
document.write(' do with the time allotted us in between depends on who is in control of our clocks.</P><hr><h3>Life Applications:</h3');
document.write('><P>Do you feel rushed through each day? Have you asked for God\'s help?<br>How can you change your patterns/habits to ');
document.write('make God a bigger part of your life?<br>Is God your timekeeper? Have you given him control over your life? <br>Remove yo');
document.write('ur watch and allow Him the next few minutes of your time. Pray for his guidance and control.</p><hr><P>Copyright 2003 ');
document.write('<strong><em>by <a target="_blank" href="mailto:CajunWriter@aol.com?Subject=Your%20article%20on%20ParishWebmaster.com"><f');
document.write('ont color="#000000">Christine G. Law</font></a></em></strong><A HREF="http://www.ParishWebmaster.com/" STYLE="TEXT-DECOR');
document.write('ATION: NONE"><font color="#000000"><br>All rights reserved. </font></a></P><hr>');