Category Archives: Family

Financial planners and writers often discuss the “time value of money.” The idea is to think about what the money you are using on some purchase would be worth in the future if you put it in an investment. It is simply the idea of looking long-term at what an impulsive purchase is costing you, and it is a wise exercise when thinking of making a purchase. If you spent $1000 less on a car and put that money in your retirement account, what would it be in 20 or 30 years? That’s the idea.

But do we ever think about the time value of our time? While that may be an awkward phrase, I think it needs to be on our minds regularly.

We often have a long list of to-do’s. In fact, my list for today already has 8 items that I’ve checked off, and I’m writing this at 11AM. There are a few more to go before I’ll feel like today was what it needed to be.

But that’s the mindset I’m writing about. Are some of the things I’ve done today important? Of course. For example, spending some time in study for my Sunday morning Bible class, I think you’ll agree, is time well spent. Reading my Bible for my own personal growth is something that I literally need to do each day.

Other things crop up, though, from time-to-time and rob us of those very important things. They may seem important in the moments, but will they matter in the long run? That’s the question we must answer. We all must do “mundane” or “regular” things each day (brushing teeth, making meals, etc.). We understand those things, and they are part of our lives. But there are other things that literally rob our time. What are they? Here are a few of them:

• That TV show that you just “can’t miss”
• A video game that you just have to beat
• Surfing the web for no real purpose
• Texting someone just because you can’t think of anything better to do
• Sitting on Facebook just hoping a friend will jump on so we can chat

You see the thread here, don’t you? These are things that, in themselves, are not wrong and might even bring a level of pleasure to us. There is nothing wrong with watching TV or playing a game. I love the internet (hello, I run a blog!). Texting…well, it’s not my favorite thing, but it is a way to communicate. I have started spending a lot (and I mean a LOT) less time on Facebook, though I still find it a valuable tool.

However, are spending so much time doing these types of things that it is robbing us of something more important?

So, what is most important to you? What will be important 5 years from now? 10? 30?

In case you needed the answer, it is time spent (1) with God, (2) with your spouse, (3) with your children, and (4) with your close friends and relatives. Everything else can move down the priority list. Even your job. Even your hobbies. Even…anything else.

Let’s all remember the time value of time, and redeem the time that we have been given!

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Tomorrow, my plan is to post some tips for enjoying these things while not letting them overwhelm our time. I’d like your tips, too, so make sure you leave a comment!

Dear Anheuser -Busch, Coors Brewing, Samuel Adams, et.al.,

Last night, I met one of your best customers. It was a female, but, curiously, she was not a bikini-clad model standing near a pool. Nor was she a sophisticated cultural elite who obviously used your product to rub elbows with the other elitists of our society. I find that odd, since all your commercials present these as the only women who drink your products.

Let me explain who I met last night.

My wife had to make a quick stop at a local Publix to pick up two items we needed. I waited in the car with my two small children. I saw my wife coming out of the store, so I drove near the door, when a woman who looked to be in her 50s stumbled near my car and fell. I immediately put my car in park, told the kids to stay put, and jumped out. Honestly, I thought she had passed out, or … maybe worse.

The man in the car behind me did the same thing, and we helped her sit up. The smell of your product was in the air, but it wasn’t extremely strong, so I thought maybe the man helping me had “had a couple” before coming to the store. However, my wife handed this woman–your customer–her glasses, and then the woman said, “Would someone hand me my glasses.” She was holding them and putting them on her face as she said this.

The other man and I looked at one another, and knew what we were dealing with. The woman told us that her daughter was still in the store, and she was just coming to sit in the car. So, another woman went into the store to page the daughter, and we walked this woman to her SUV. Amazingly, she was carrying keys and wanted to get in the driver’s seat of the car. We wouldn’t allow it, and she agreed to sit in the passenger’s seat until her daughter came.

After a couple of minutes, we noticed her on her cell phone…calling her daughter to come get her. Her daughter was not in the store. At this point, I went into the store and spoke to the manager. They knew the daughter somehow, and knew she was not in the store. Also, they were calling the police to help with the situation that now had the parking lot standing still. After a few more minutes, the store manager told the other man and I that we could leave, and some men from the store came out to guard this woman from herself until the police came.

I am writing this letter to ask you to stop this. As a former youth minister, I have dealt with teenagers who had a problem drinking, or who lost friends in accidents involving your product. Others dealt with abusive parents because of your “cool” product. As a preacher, I have looked into the faces of many people who have had wasted years, wasted money, and wasted relationships because of your products (maybe that’s why they call it “getting wasted”). As a dad, I don’t want my children to see what your product really does, but I know they will be hurt in some way by it in their lifetime. As one who was once told that my wife and I would never have children, I grieve for those tiny ones in the womb who are already being introduced to your product. As a citizen of America, the state of Tennessee, the county of Davison, and the city of Hermitage, I am appalled at the regular and negative consequences your product has across this nation and in my own town. Yes, it might bring in some tax revenue, but it has cost us far more in lost lives and broken hearts.

If you are going to keep making your product, may I ask you to at least tell the truth in your advertisements? Please stop presenting your product as a elitist product or as what makes one the center of society and of all the fun. Because last night, I met one of your best customers, and I’m sure you will never have her in one of your commercials.

Praying,

Adam D. Faughn

Hermitage, TN

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In the comments, I am asking our readers to simply state their agreement with this letter. If you have a story you are willing to share, please do so as well. I don’t know if anyone in the industry will ever read this, but it can’t hurt to put it out there and try!