"That's why God made tomorrow"

We were out in the yard raking up the grass left over from cutting the lawn. It was hot and humid and we were trying to finish up so we could rest. I thought we'd raked it all and we were putting away the rakes and getting Charlie Dog settled down from his "helping" us. As we were heading back to the house, I saw an area that we'd missed and Emma asked if we were going to have to get the rakes back out and work some more. That's when I used one of my favorite quotes (I think I made it up but who knows): "That's why God made tomorrow."

I don't mean it as a way to justify procrastination. I don't need any help in that! I came up with that line to try to help us feel better about the fact that there are only so many hours in the day. There are enough reasons to feel guilty about things that we haven't done (or can't do) without adding to it. At the end of the day, if you've done your best and there isn't time to finish something, there's always tomorrow. I think it's better to stop work, have a good meal and get some rest. Then you'll be able to tackle the job in a better mood - tomorrow.

At work, we a are using a system called Agile Programming where you plan out what you are going to do in two week increments. You are supposed to pick enough tasks to take up the two week period but you are supposed to finish the tasks in the two week period. It is a nice idea but many times you are doing tasks that you've never done before. So, you can't really schedule the tasks down to the hour. Also, many times other things happen that interfere with the task you're working on. So, at the end of the two week period, if you haven't finished your tasks, you just continue them into the next two week period. Hopefully, as you get better at scheduling your time, the tasks are completed at the end of the two week period. But what happens if they are not? Are you going to quit? Will you get fired? Will you sit there and worry about it? No, the answer is to do your best and then move on. There's work to be done and you might as well get at it.

This will make some Christians mad. I have many friends that will end every sentence that has anything to do with the future with the phrase, "if the Lord is willing." Well, yes. If I die tomorrow, I won't be able to finish the job. If Jesus comes tomorrow, I won't be able to finish the job. Let me tell you, if either of those things happen tomorrow, the last thing on my mind will be whether I 'd finished a job the day before.

So, tomorrow came and we finished the raking. It didn't take long because we'd done most of it the day before. The sky didn't fall and it was actually a little easier to rake the grass the next day because it had dried out a bit. We played a little Frisbee and gave the dog a bath. The kids ran through the sprinkler and we watched some funny shows on TV. Thank you, Lord, for tomorrow.