Inspired by Pioneer Farms, a place that reminds us of when people lived on so little and treasured their limited time together
“How wasteful!”
This phrase comes out of my mouth more often than I’m aware. When I’m walking past the trash cans after a high school football game and see hundreds of plastic water bottles overflowing the bin, I’ll whisper to myself, “how wasteful!”
When I see my kids take more than one paper towel in the bathroom to half-dry their tiny little hands, I gasp, “how wasteful!”
When I receive a small item from Amazon on my porch in a large box with an abundance of plastic bubble wrap, I mutter, “how wasteful!”
And don’t even get me started on how I react when money is wasted!
I could share hundreds of examples of excessive waste in our world. While I try to find ways to reduce and reuse, such as the pledge my family took for an entire year not to drink water from plastic water bottles and the fact that we drive cars until they practically fall apart, I recognize that I am part of the problem too.
Then, at church one Sunday, I listened to a sermon that made me look at waste in a whole new way. The pastor was preaching on happiness, and he made a bold yet obvious statement about how to live a full life:
“Don’t waste good days.”
My heart skipped a beat. Too often, I worry about trash and excess purchases, but what I waste more than anything is a very precious resource God gave us:
Time.
I’m sure God might notice “how wasteful!” I’m being when I vent to my husband about matters and people I cannot change or when I last-minute-cancel a friend’s request to go to lunch because I’m scurrying around my empty house completing my self-assigned to-do list. God could mutter, “how wasteful!” when he sees me playing around with Instagram filters, then typing, deleting, and retyping the perfect caption for that edited photo, while there’s a shining sun glaring through my window. And what about when I’m catching up on dozens of texts from a group chat while my child is begging to play.
The Lord has given me so much, including time on this Earth, so much so that there’s opportunity to waste it in worry, fear, complaining, anger, excess, and busyness.
But that’s not His intent for us. He created a universe and a livelihood that’s meant for joy, pleasure, community, and love. He’s blessed us with people who need and want our affection and attention. These good days cannot be squandered.
I have to vow to choose joy and pay attention to how I spend my days; I don’t know how many I have left. There’s no time to waste.
When my kids and I visit historic sites, especially living history farms, it often reminds how little time could be wasted when survival was on the line. Last year, we read through the entire Little House on the Prairie series. There were many days that the family had to sit around and wait for horrible weather to pass or ride in a wagon for countless hours until they reached a destination. That time seemed to be wasted, but they always made the most of it with conversation, important tasks, studying, reading, and playing music.
My kids and I enjoy visiting these historic sites and imagining how we’d spend our time if we had lived back then. I highly recommend a visit to Pioneer Farms in Austin to take your family back in time and reminisce on a slower way of life.
Teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom.
-Psalm 90:12 NIV
I’d love to hear from you! What’s your favorite thing to do in the Texas Hill Country?