I have one word for you.

Netflix.

Have you ever heard of it?  It entered our lives some 10 months ago.  And I’m so glad it did.  I’ve never wasted so much time in my 30 some years of life, since I met Netflix.

I’ve always been proud of my television boundaries.  We don’t have cable.  I am a fan of The Amazing Race and random PBS documentaries, but I usually don’t get caught up into too many t.v. shows.  I was faithful to The Office until Steve Carell left.  But I don’t get sidetracked by Oprah (or the like), I hate watching sports and the news is just depressing… I did spend a few years on Alias & then on LOST (which turned out to be a WOT – waste of time – after seeing the cheesy endings).  Thanks JJ Abrams.  I had higher expectations.

Then I met Netflix.

It changed my time-wasting capabilities and caused them to increase exponentially.

I now know more about the Tweto family surviving storms on “Flying Wild Alaska”, and Paul Watson stewarding the Sea Shepherd to save whales from the Japanese whalers on “Whale Wars, and how to become a loser prospector like the Hoffman crew that never finds gold on “Gold Rush Alaska”, than I ever thought I could.

I know too much.  I’ve wasted too much time.

But God can redeem my time.

The truth is I loved watching those shows.  I got sucked in when I thought I never would.  The reality of the Tweto’s, the Hoffman’s and the Sea Shepherd crew was so intriguing to me.  Until I was bored.  I was bored with watching the Tweto’s fly in in-climate weather, and the Sea Shepherd crew throw stink bombs onto the deck of the Japanese whaling ships, and the Hoffman’s dig 1,000 feet into the earth to find merely a fleck of gold.

I was bored.  I rarely use those 3 words, but I was.  I needed something new.  I always have something to do, or something I need to be doing.  I lead a busy life.  It was time for me to stop wasting it.

I needed new boundaries.  With Netflix.

So in the evenings, when P.A. and I normally settle into our spots on the couch to chill out after the wee Babs are in bed, I began something different for “my time”.  I played my guitar.  I listened to a sermon online.  I read my Bible.  I called a friend.  I called my parents.  I wrote in my journal. I started blogging.  P.A. and I would have “home dates” and spend time talking and hanging out, and sometimes watch a movie.  I didn’t mop.  I didn’t vacuum.  I didn’t pay bills.  I was allowing God to redeem my time.

I want to learn everyday.  I want to grow everyday.  I want to spend my time well.  With God, I always can.  His Word is never boring.  It is always new.  When I am spending time in the Bible, I am always learning something.  When I am focused on Jesus, I am growing.  When I am with God, it is never a WOT.

Spending time with God compels me to be a better wife, a more attentive mom, a more caring friend.  My precious time with God redeems every part of my life and with every person I spend time with.

I’m sure I will find something else to waste my time on in the next 30 some years of my life and I may look back and say I wasted time on x.y.z.

But I will never look back and regret the redeeming time I spend with my amazing God!

What are your time-wasters?  What would you rather be doing?  Allow God to redeem your time… He always does.