Say "When"

When pouring a glass of sweet tea my paternal grandmother used to say, “Say when”.   For those who aren’t used to the expression it just means that you would let her know when she had poured enough tea in your glass.   Theatre, sitcoms and movies have used that phrase over the years to pull off an old, but great comedy bit resulting in an overflowing glass or wet lap because someone forgot to say, “when,” or the person pouring got distracted.  

Life can be like the glass of sweet tea.  Sometimes it fills so fast and if we don’t say, “when,” it spills over and makes a big mess.  Perhaps you are already there.  Life just keeps coming and you find yourself taking hit after hit with little, or no time to respond.  Your glass is overflowing and now it’s dripping from the table onto to the floor.  You try to clean up the mess, but it keeps raining down.  You have to know when to say “when”.   

Divorce, substance abuse, compulsive behaviors, broken relationships and, a pattern of short-term jobs, or residences can nearly always be traced to a failure to say “when”.    Human nature tends to accept more than we can handle.  Our appetites are nearly always bigger than our bellies.  So we cram more and more into our lives.  Family, work, play, physical/emotional health and even church life suffer when we keep piling more onto the pile.  

Everything has a saturation point.  Even good /healthy things can be trouble.   Believe it or not, I can golf or fish too much.  I can’t believe I just wrote that!  Seriously, those offices of relaxation can become more like work when we are so driven by them.  Even running can be bad for us when we run so much we ignore the signs of physical wear and tear, or let it rob us of time with our family, etc.   By the way, I’m in no danger on the golf pail being too full when I only play 6-8 times a year!

Summer is a great time to say, “when!”  Things tend to be slower in the summer and we can let off the gas pedal and take stock.  Check your calendar and your bank statement.  What’s occupying the most space in those areas?  Are you spending too much time, or money on something that is about to eat your lunch?  Is the glass overflowing at work because you can’t draw boundaries to protect your marriage and family?  Despite being a Marxist, Sartre nailed when he said, “We are our choices.”  Are any of your choices resulting in a glass running over and spilling onto the floor?  Say, “When!”