Being thankful is the antidote to the comparison game. The one thing that I should be pressing myself on is being faithful in reading and applying God's word. I should live my life with a heart of gratitude. I should be thankful for everything, big and small. 

Ultimately there has to be more than me praying, "Thank you for my blessings." My words and actions must align. I don't want to mislead my children about life's disappointments or sorrows, but I want to model a balance, steering away from the should's.

​By: Queen Majeeda

It's 5 am, and the alarm sounds time to get up. I'm tired, but I must get up because if I don't, I will not have time to spend with God before getting ready for work. The alarm snoozes and sounds two more times like it does every morning because I am genuinely tired – with working, mothering, and all the responsibilities of living. I do a quick reading of God's word and pray a much shorter prayer than I want to so I can get ready, pack my lunch, help my son get ready while my mom packs his lunch, dash through the door and take him to school then head to work before it's late.  

Is this living? I feel like I'm living a programmed life. I yearn for more time with God, and so I beg and beseech Him to give me more time so that I don't have to rush my conversation with him. I do this every morning and throughout the day. I feel like other things are taking precedence, and that's not the way it should be. I need time in the morning to be still. ​

By: Tamika Mahomes

As we are experiencing the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak, many of us are now adapting to a new reality of being bound to our homes and mandated to social distancing. And while this sudden limit of socialization has caused frustration, boredom, and some confusion, this is a time not to focus on what we can't do but rather what we can do. While this time has forced us to a place of rest, focus, and reflection, it is a time where we can maximize growing in what the Lord's will is. 

In today's passage, we see Paul reminding us that we must not waste time but instead make the most of every opportunity. So I ask you today? What are you making of this opportunity? Are you spending your time binge-watching shows on Netflix? Are you spending your time seeing how much online shopping you can accomplish? Are you spending your time scrolling social media? Or are you spending this time to grow yourself and develop into the person that God is calling you to be?​

Watching TV, scrolling social media, it all seems like a way to pass the time, but the truth is the more time you spend pouring those things into your soul, the more those things begin to control and lead your life.  Could you imagine if you instead spent those hours in the Bible? Could you imagine how we would grow as God's sons and daughters? Our time is not meant to be wasted but rather we need to make our time so precious that we refuse to allow non-essential things to distract our essential relationship with God.

In closing the passage, Paul reminds us not to be foolish and to understand what the Lord's will is. To understand what the Lord's will is, we have to be close to the Lord; we have to read, know, and understand his word. Church every Sunday and listening to online sermons is simply not enough! In order to see change, we must understand it begins with intentional time with the Father. Psalm 19:7 says:​

​God's word converts or changes the soul. When we are in the presence of the most high, we have no choice but to be changed and transformed. God's word calls us to be different, it calls us to be set apart, and it calls us to be more like him. So today friend, I challenge you (and myself), to put down the remote, put down the phone, put down the distractions and turn to Jesus, turn to the WORD and ask him, Father, how can I spend this time to be more like you. Let us allow this time to be time unwasted.