Give Time

The Christmas season is a most special time of year for some and a most

troublesome time for others. “Why,” might you ask? The answer, life’s experiences!

Experiences in a person’s life, good or bad, leave indelible marks on an individual’s

human-spiritual domain (HSD). Simply put, the HSD is that internal component,

informed by one’s body-mind-soul-spirit, that captures, analyzes, and assigns values to

whatever one experiences whether positive or negative.

I am reminded of a time I went shopping with my wife; well truthfully, she shops

and I watch people. On this particular occasion, I watched this little boy who had gotten

distracted by a certain toy while his mom moved about the aisles. The boy’s mom had

rounded a corner and at the same time, the boy turned to reconnect with his mom but

couldn’t find her. He moved back and forth calling for his mom, but the bustling people

and store announcements stifled his voice, and his mom couldn’t hear him.

He began quietly crying and tripped over his shoelace that had come undone

while he paced back and forth looking for his mother. I walked over to the young guy

and asked, “what’s wrong little guy?” His answer was precious, “my shoe’s untied and I

lost my mother.” For him, with his limited and immature HSD, this moment was the

worst of the worst. He was alone, undone, and abandoned!

I bent down to meet him on his level and said, “Would you like me to help tie your

shoe and look for your mom?” As his tears began drying up, he said, “YES!” So, I tied

his shoe, and we held hands as I took him to his mother. He spotted his mom and in an

extremely dramatic way let her know how glad he was to find her. She was shocked and

embarrassed that he had gotten away from her. I calmed her fears and assured her,

with a father’s heart having small children of my own, that he was safe the whole time.

I tell you this story to say, sometimes all one needs is the gift of a little time. It

cost me nothing but a little time to help transform the little guy’s turmoil into

thanksgiving, and his mother’s fear of humanity to faith in humanity. Whether we admit

or not every breathing person still has that little guy or little girl dwelling in them, no

matter their age, who needs someone to spend a little time on them. It is imperative for

leaders to use their time wisely and spend it on something or someone worthy. As

leaders, people are worthy of our time, so when it comes to spending time, always

“Take Inventory-Manage Effectively.