business and busyness

More often than not my life can be defined by the business that runs it, often translating to busyness. In short, a lot of business = busyness. If Shelli and I have had anything to tend with lately it has certainly been business and busyness. Shelli, in school (and not easy classes mind you: physiology and chemistry), working at Primary (not exactly and easy load emotionally, either), helping with Youth and balancing headaches and her goofy pain-in-the-rear husband. I, with work (overly demanding in and of itself) and Youth Ministry (I really have been involved in a part-time job), and just the day-to-day tasks of making dinner and managing the little stuff, such as finances, etc. Both of us have been doing a little bit of job searching, looking for better fits for our lives, and both of us have been helping to keep everything else caught up, such as the cleaning, cooking, etc. We even manage to get a little time together in the mix of all of that, though not a lot. Busy, busy, busy.

My discovery: It doesn't translate both ways. Busyness doesn't have to equal business. Don't get me wrong i think almost everybody I know is busy, they all have something going on. Most of you reading this are busier than myself. But many of you aren't just caught up in the business of life. Just the busyness of it, which isn't necessarily bad.

I caught up with a couple good friends this weekend and I discovered something, in each distinct conversation we talked about a lot of things, but what kept coming up were the details about all the things we had going on in our lives and how busy we were, and that quickly lead to 'whats it all worth'. Is our busyness worth while? Is it meaningful? Or is it taking away from the things that matter most? Often times the answer is a little of both. But sometimes, we drift to far and the answer is not good.

These next few months (through January) are the busiest of our year. Shelli and I have Thanksgiving in Moab, Chirstmas in SLC, seven birthdays between our friends and family, New Years', Youth Shoppin' and Shootin' All day Dec 8th, a New years' Youth Lock-in, my work Christmas Party (quite the production) and my annual guys' trip at the end of November. But I like the way our busyness is shifting. All this busyness will bring some business with it, but I like what its about. Lately we have been getting so caught up in the business that it has distracted from the most important in life. We need more busy with friends and family. More busy with each other. The next few months bring us more time with family. More time with friends. Time investing in the youth. That kind of busyness is worth it. I'll take that kind of busyness any day of the week.

All that business, should really be about being busy with what matters most, but often times we forget that, and its just about the business. It takes away from the important that you started doing it for. All that stuff you do, whats it for? All those things your taking care of, they're not keeping you from he things you care about most, are they? Or maybe, even hopefully, all that business your taking care is so you can be busy with those who you should be busy with. Of all the people I talk to, most have these things on their mind. Some wind up disappointed when they ask the question, others content, and still others wondering. If we don't set time for those that matter, like we set time for our business, then we have missed everything.

I miss a lot sometimes. Always want to change it. Sometimes do, many times don't. I take a long time getting to a point, I apologize. Just sharing my thoughts. I look forward to seeing you soon over the next little while, still busy, but maybe, just maybe, with what matters.