Preparing for my Bible Study, I've dusted off a few favorite books for reference material. One of the ones that I pulled out is called, Margin, by Dr. Richard Swenson. We first heard him on Focus on the Family several years ago, and his message struck a real chord with us.
"Margin is the space that once existed between ourselves and our limits. It's something held in reserve for contingencies or unanticipated situations. As a society, we've forgotten what margin is. In the push for progress, margin has been devoured. We feel distressed in ill-defined ways. We are besieged by anxiety, stress, and fatigue. Our relationships suffer. We have unexplained aches and pains. The flood of daily events seems beyond our control. We're overloaded."
Been There. Am there.
I've been challenged to look at the margins in my own life. I could use more margin in almost every area, especially TIME. Bolstered with new resolve, I said "no" this week to a volunteer project at church, which would have been right up my alley, but would have severely limited the time I have left to write and study for the Thursday morning group. It felt good. A weight lifted from my chest.
Ahhhh, deep breath. Now, where else can I apply some margin?
Rachel Anne
