At 4 p.m. on Saturday, I decided to order a delivery for dinner—to save time. My time cooking and cleaning up afterwards.

It was easy to rationalize the need to save time; I had just finished my newest book and deserved a small celebration. Finishing the book took a massive effort and push since I am the solitary care-giver for my husband who is terminally ill and can no longer walk. And since finishing the book, I had given the house a good clean because Alan’s brother was coming to spend a week with us and a childhood friend of theirs was also dropping in for a visit.

I picked up my brother-in-law from the ferry at 4 p.m., and suggested collecting fish and chips on the way home…to save time.

Ian didn’t want fish and chips, so once we got home, we scanned the menu of an Indian restaurant and wrote down three orders. I even included an extra one for our collie, Savannah. Then I began calling to place the order. No one answered the phone. It went straight to a recording again and again. So, to save time, I got into the car and drove back into town to place the order in person. The restaurant was closed. It was now approaching six o’clock.

Still on a mission to save time, it was back home to find the menu for the Chinese restaurant and search it. Since it was Saturday, all the restaurants were busy, but my call finally went through and I placed the orders.

By 7:20 p.m., I had to admit my failure to save time. We still hadn’t eaten. We were still waiting for the order. The food finally came and we fell on it like a pack of hungry wolves. To be fair, we did remember to pray first.

The problem with eating so late was that I was late walking Savannah and by the time I got out with her—the midges were out. And hungry. I soon had a circle of stings and itches circling my head from under the brim of my woolly hat to under my hair at the base of my skull.

To save time, I had wasted three hours. Tomorrow…I will cook.

“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1

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