Rocks, sand and water

I went to a homeschool Moms encouragement night the other night and was very inspired.  There was an analogy given by the lady speaking who's name was Linda. I had to share it with you because it really encouraged me and made me think.

You may have done that experiment before where you have a glass jar, big rocks, small rocks, sand and water.  In the experiment you need to put the items in the jar in the right order or you will not be able to obtain maximum capacity.  In other words, you must put the big rocks first, then the little rocks. After that you can put sand which fills in almost all of the rest of the space.  Once the sand is in you put in the water and of course it absorbs into the sand.  If you put the sand in first can you fit the big rocks? No.  What about if you put in the little rocks, can you still fit the little rocks? No.  

I personally had never done the experiment before but had heard about it and got the idea.  What I loved about the analogy that Linda gave was that she applied this to our lives....

The big rocks in our lives may represent personal quiet time, school (if you are a homeschool mom), providing a nutritious meal for your family, etc.  These are things that are the "must do's" in your day.  The things that you would be upset if you didn't have a part of your day.

The little rocks in our lives may represent extra housework, email, etc. Things that you would like to fit in but if they can't fit you would be OK.

The sand could represent coffee with a friend or a special lunch out.  Maybe even sports or extra-curricular activities. These would be something fun but not a necessity on a regular basis.

The water could represent facebook, surfing the net, blogging, etc. These things can be robbers of your time but can enrich your life.

Linda asked us to go home and write down exactly what our big rocks, little rocks, sand and water would be represented by. The above does not represent my list but are some of Linda's examples. Although I would include some of these in my own list.   Linda said that when we start our day we want to make sure we put in our big rocks first.  In the past I have been known to put sand in first (facebook) or little rocks (email) and then get frustrated that I could fit a big rock in (bible study.)  It is so easy to get unbalanced but when we think about our days with the picture of this glass jar in mind it really can put it into perspective.

I pray this encourages you to choose your big rocks and put them in your jar first.

Blessings!