Where's the time?

It's crazy how busy life gets, isn't it?  Work, school, volunteering, church activities, sports, driving the kids around, meetings, cooking, cleaning, spending time with friends and family, homework/helping the kids with homework, chores, errands...just to name a few.  And when we finally DO have a minute to stop, either we're so tired we don't want to do anything, or we feel like we're wasting time because we're used to being so busy.

Sound familiar?

So how in the midst of all that, are we supposed to fit in spending time with God?  It's like we're already stretched to the max with the busyness of everyday life, there just does not seem to be 10 minutes anywhere to do our devotions...except maybe when we're laying in bed at night, just barely keeping our eyes open as we're reading the bible or praying; that, or we're thinking of all the things we have to do tomorrow.  Well no biggie, God understands, right?

No, the plain truth is - it IS a biggie.  I've been learning this a lot so far in 2012.  Just to set the record straight, this is not meant as a preachy thing.  It's more of "this is what Tim Maassarany is learning, and I hope it helps you too."  Why do you think I can list all those things above?  Cause busyness is usually my biggest excuse too.  Yes, even we Christian radio DJ's can struggle with a daily quiet time sometimes.

A few weeks ago at a Superbowl party I got into a discussion about this with a friend, and he completely challenged me.  He came straight out and said it - "Tim if you're not spending time with God everyday - even just 10-minutes each day for the most important thing in your life - then you need to go back to high school; go back to youth group."  He hit me square in the face with that one.  He's right, that's the stuff that was pounded into me in youth group, the importance of spending time daily with God.  That's the foundation.  Now that I'm an adult, that should be a well established practice.  He was basically telling me to grow up and stop making excuses.

Then yesterday Charles Stanley (on LIFE at 12:30) was talking about the same thing.  He said when we become too busy - or THINK we are too busy - to spend time with God, we're falling right into Satan's trap of lies, deception, and distraction.  He said Satan is always trying to distract us from God, and what better way than busyness?

Both of these hit me big time.  In 2012, I've really been making a more concerted effort to be consistent with this.  Mike at the superbowl party nailed it - no more excuses.  It's time to get serious about the most important thing in our lives.  We can't do that if we don't spend enough time with God to really get to know Him.

Busyness is the worst excuse of all, and yet so many of us use that one.  Enough's enough.  If Christ is what my life is all about, then I'm going to get serious.  And not later.  NOW.

You with me?

Valentine's and Family Day...and February!

Man, February is a crazy month for myself and my family.  I'll explain why in a just a minute, but first, I said I'd post about the 'rockstar' gift I got for my wife on Valentine's Day...the answer?  A haircut!  You're probably thinking...what?  But see, my wife is amazing.  She got bangs for the first time last year and really loved them.  I also liked them, but personally I liked her hair longer.  So she's been growing her hair out for me over the past year, even though she's really wanted bangs.  That was sooooo sweet of her, so I got her gift certificate for a haircut for Valentines.

Now, as to the craziness of February for my family...there's valentine's day and family day.  As for birthday's, my dad's is February 3rd, my uncle's the 15th, my cousin's husband the 18th, and mine is the 19th (yesterday!).  OH, and my parents anniversary is the 18th...  yeah, December and February are the more expensive months for our family, lol.

But I had a great 30th birthday yesterday, celebrating with friends and family, and of course my awesome wife.  After the fun weekend, I stopped and reflected this morning on all the good things God has given as blessings.  Made me so thankful.  Life can be tough.  There are so many difficulties along the way sometimes, unexpected troubles come up.  But when we remember that we have a God that really cares, and that blesses us along the way, that really helps.  I enjoyed some good reflection this weekend.

Valentine's Day!

So I got my wife a rockstar gift...but I can't tell you want it is because I haven't given it to her yet.  In fact she doesn't even know I got her a gift.  I'm pretty excited about it.  Check back tomorrow and I'll let you know what it is.  You may not think it's amazing, but I know she'll love it!

But on a larger scale...what do you think of Valentine's Day?  Being a history buff, I like to look into the origins of things, to see why we celebrate what we do.  However, it appears that Valentine's Day is the one day (the only one?  I'm not sure) whose origins no one actually knows for sure.  Here's a brief history lesson.

For us Christians, the most honourable Valentine's Day origin - and actually the one that appears to be the most common in general - is St. Valentine, a Christian who was put to death for refusing to deny his faith.  How that actually relates to Valentine's Day is unclear.  There are also claims that Valentine's started as a Roman celebration called 'Lupercalia,' and it was Pope Gelasius in 496AD who switched Lupercalia into Valentine's Day to celebrate St. Valentine.  Finally, apparantly the Catholic Encyclopedia says there were actually three saints named Valentine, who were all martyred on February 14th.

Whatever the origins are, Valentine's Day has morphed into the commercialized dealio it is today.  Some love it, some can't stand it.  But if we can get past that, I think at the root of it is something beautiful - showing the one you love just how much you love them.

Now all that being said - if you celebrate Singles Awareness Day, then Happy Singles Awareness Day to you!