Author Archives: chadzaucha

Photo credit: Steve Witherspoon

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100072478205502

Photo Credit: Rose Smeltzer

Zip line at FBC picnic at Center Lake Bible Camp

1 year ago today was wedding rehearsal for Anna and Ty. I am so very proud of both of them and how they have handled their first year of marriage.

Highlights from Chapter 5 – “The Case for Timefulness”

“Pain plus reflection equals progress.” Montgomery, Daniel. How to Be Present in an Absent World (p. 53). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

“The key to getting back our time, then, is to learn how to be fully present.” Montgomery, Daniel. How to Be Present in an Absent World (p. 54). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

“According to Marc Wittman, “Through mindfulness and emotional control, the tempo of life that we experience can be reduced, and we can regain time for ourselves and others.”4” Montgomery, Daniel. How to Be Present in an Absent World (p. 55). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

“Time is both a gift and a responsibility. If we never slow down enough to be truly present, we’ll squander that gift in frenzied absence. On the flip side, if we misunderstand self-awareness as an invitation to constant navel-gazing, we’ll punt on our responsibility to make the most of what God has given. In the end, we need the wisdom that comes from an intimate knowledge of our finitude. Only then will we escape the tyranny of the clock and feel truly free to get our heads back in the game.” Montgomery, Daniel. How to Be Present in an Absent World (p. 57). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Personal Reflection – So much of the currently productivity literature focuses on the management of time to help us go faster and do more. There is a place for good stewardship and efficiency. But what if a key missing component to fruitfulness is actually to slow down? What if we actually accomplish more by doing less, more slowly? The “more” has to be clearly identified so that we are not just passive and lazy (which Jesus clearly was not). I think the “more” has to do with the “fruit that will last”. God, help us to learn the difference between fruitfulness and busyness.

Highlights from Chapter 4 – “Where Did All Our Time Go?”

“I showed up, but I wasn’t present.” Montgomery, Daniel. How to Be Present in an Absent World (p. 46). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

“Yet our problem with time runs much deeper than learning to master our calendar and fend off time bandits. Ultimately, our problem with time does not lie outside of us; it’s in us. We’re running out of time because we’re thinking, feeling, and living out of time. In a word, we’re absent.” Montgomery, Daniel. How to Be Present in an Absent World (p. 51). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

“And the only way to solve our problem is to reenter time and “recover the rhythm and order of man’s real nature” as we live within the “appointed times” that God has determined for each of us (see Acts 17:26).11 This is what I call timefulness, and I’ll spend the next several chapters unpacking what it entails.12” Montgomery, Daniel. How to Be Present in an Absent World (p. 51). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Personal Reflection – I remember those days in elementary school when the teacher would call the roll and the expected response was “Here,” or “Present.” But what is true physically isn’t necessarily true spiritually, emotionally, or relationally. We can be physically “here,” but a million miles away, robbing God and others of our love and attention. How significant this is all relationships, but especially in marriage and parenting. I am looking forward to learning more about this concept of timefulness in the chapters to come.