—Matthew 6:33
Every Sunday morning there is a HAM radio swap net where different operators from around the country tune in and share. I came across an older sounding chap, who was talking with someone about “a thousand marbles.” I was intrigued and stopped to listen.
“Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family and have to work so much to make ends meet. Sixty hours a week is a lot! It's too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital,” he said; “Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities.”
And that's when he began to explain his theory of a “thousand marbles.”
“You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3,900, which is the number of Sundays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part.
“It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail,” he went on, “and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Sundays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to three toy stores and bought every single marble they had until I had rounded up 1,000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right where I could see them.
“Every Sunday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.
“There's nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.
“Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Sunday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time. It was nice to meet you Tom. I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75 year old man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!”
You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the house that morning, instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast."
“What brought this on?" she asked with a smile.
“Oh, nothing special. It's just been a long time since we spent a day together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles."
What do you need in your life to help you keep the important priorities straight and not have them crowded out by the urgent things of life?
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