168 Hours

I hope this finds you well! This summer, I was a student at a week-long course on leadership development at the Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University.) During this course, our (patient) professors of business and non-profit management spent time interpreting effective tools to the Church! Mr. Harry Kraemer started one of our classes off with a number: 168. He wrote the number 168 on the chalk board and said, “One of my very favorite numbers is 168. Everyone gets the same 168.” He was referring to the number of hours we all get, each week. Then, he asked us, “How do you use your 168?”

Your 168

How do you use your 168? God has given us 168 hours each week, and we get to determine how to best use our time. Mr. Kraemer suggested a bucket system: buckets of time to sleep, eat, spend with family and/or friends, work, worship, study, exercise… and anything else you value. Many would say that as we take a look at our financial budgets,we see what we value. What do you see when you look at your time budget? Do your values get your time? If family is a top priority, but had zero hours last week, how might we use our time differently?

Good stewardship

As you seek to be a good steward of the hours God has given you, I hope you will consider your hours of worship, study, time with your faith community, and time serving others. On Sunday, September 9, you will have an opportunity to sign up for a variety of leadership opportunities here at St. James. I hope you will prayerfully consider giving some of your 168 to St. James, whether it be continuing your commitment to a specific ministry or trying something new.

God bless you!

by Rev. Lisa Saunders