Do You Treat People Like an Interruption?

Although my siblings and other family members might beg to differ, I am typically on time. Rarely early. Sometimes late - but typically on time. As a general rule, I try to maximize my time and arrive somewhere just when I need to, or have agreed to, be there.

For those of you who are early arrivers everywhere you go, I know you are cringing right now. I know people like me drive you crazy. But there is a method to my madness. There is a why behind it all, even if it’s flawed. See, I typically have nearly every minute of every day planned. I do this partially because it makes me most efficient and being efficient with my daily goals helps me achieve my life goals.

What I fail to figure into my plan is margin, specifically margin for people. This can be a problem because I like people - a lot. And I want people to like me back. The only time I meet a stranger is when I am poured out and don’t have anything left to give OR when I’m in a hurry and I haven’t allowed margin.

Over and over again, it turns out that I don’t plan for the unexpected; a friend I haven’t seen in months, the person who stays after one of my classes to share a struggle she’s going through or a stranger in the doctor’s office who wants to show me pictures of her granddaughter.

And if I’m not careful, these people become interruptions rather than people.

Jesus was undoubtedly the most important person who has ever walked this earth. I can’t imagine the weight of reconciling sin and securing eternal life. Talk about stressful! Yet when I think about how he lived his life, I see how His plan always had margin. How he took time to call a short, thieving of a man out of a tree so they could have dinner together. How he took the long way around on a journey so he could intersect at a well with a woman whose life was messy and full of sin. How He left huge crowds to go spend time alone with God.

Jesus teaches us that relationships are not interruptions - they are our purpose. Christ sets an example of making time with His Father and others his first priority and it makes me want to be more like Him. No matter what my plan for the day dictates, I am increasingly realizing that the greatest joy and sense of accomplishment comes from meaningful connections with others.

It’s teaching me to plan in margin for connections - freeing me up to enjoy people as brothers and sisters rather than interruptions. How about you? Do you see people as welcomed opportunities for connection or distracting interruptions?

If you want to hear more on this topic, you’ll want to check out Episode 1 of my new podcast called The Problem with Perfect, coming Oct. 22. Join me and my co-host, Rachel Leigh as we discuss this idea and what to do when life doesn’t go as planned. Stay tuned for more info!