“The Gift of Time”
By: Stephanie Gardner

I know, I know, you expect this to be the traditional Christmas article published in December. However, as I visit with ladies across the church, I have noticed a growing trend of women with a lack of time. On any given day you can hear ladies lamenting their “busyness,” their fatigue and their need to catch up.

As a wife, mother of three, business woman, elected official's wife, friend, sister, daughter-in-law, niece, girl's ministry director and confidant, I too, run out of time and find myself juggling too many balls in the air at once.
Remember, the old Jim Croce song lyrics?

“If I could save time in a bottle, the first thing that I'd like to do is to save every day 'til eternity passes away ...?”

Well, we know that is not possible. So, I'd like to offer several suggestions that I use to help you in your myriad of roles to organize and maximize your dwindling amount of free time, too.

Organization:
Go to www.flylady.net. The website offers suggestions for those suffering from “CHAOS,” Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome.” It also gives daily tips to rid yourself of clutter.

Correspondence:
To organize your correspondence, try www.birthdayalarm.com, www.hallmark.com or www.americangreetings.com. These sites send e-mails to all your friends, they give you their birth date and then the site e-mails you to remind you to send e-cards or cards.

Tip-Buy all your birthday cards once a quarter if you get coupons from groups like Hallmark Gold Crown rewards. If not, go to the card store once a year, plan a couple of hours, buy your cards for the year and then put in a card organizer to mail throughout the year.

You may also use software like American Greetings Create-A-Card to get organized with your dates, reminders, birthdays and mailing labels.

Calendar/ Daily Planner:
The site www.30boxes.com lets you plan your day, organize your schedule and communicate with others.

Support and Connection:
Need a phone number or someone's address? Try www.switchboard.com or www.whitepages.com. You can search by reverse address, last known number and name.

You may also visit www.ivillage.com to get connected with other ladies. Just click on the link for getting organized.

Need church information? Lost your WM or GM reporting form? Go to the IPHC website, www.iphc.org and click on the appropriate ministry link. Many of our ministries have forms available online. Also, visit the MWF Chat group to “talk” with other pastor's wives across the country.

Travel Assistance:
For traveling, use sites like www.kayak.com, www.travelocity.com or www.expedia.com to see your best travel options for your schedule. Use www.tripadvisor.com to tour a city before you even get there. Put your favorite cities on the trip Fare Watcher at www.travelocity.com, and it will alert when the fare prices drop to those cities.

Shopping:
Shop online through www.Amazon.com for those things you buy occasionally or all the time. Use www.mysimon.com and www.shopbot.com to find stores that carry the item you are looking for and compare prices, too.
Consider shopping at your favorite store's website. Most sites offer free shipping, for example, www.bathandbodyworks.com almost always has FREE shipping with a minimum purchase.

Communication:
Use your cell phone to text people back or e-mail back responses to return other's phone calls. Place reminders in your cell phone, too. You will not forget to mail bills, etc, when your cell phone reminds you when to mail it. Get a cell phone that includes your phone and computer capabilities all in one.

I think when we use our best organizational capabilities and resources the Lord is pleased to know that we are organizing the other parts of our day to find some time to spend with him.

Psalms 90:12 says, “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Let us number our days and hours so that our Lord may be pleased…”

Wishing you a Merry Christmas with more time!