I’m not always super-organized, but I do like to maintain an up-to-date and complete family schedule. I use the nifty BusyBodyBook and have found that its layout works perfectly for me. I use the first column for my appointments and activities, the second column for C.’s “stuff” (tests, projects, things that have to go in to school, appointments, birthday parties, etc.), and the third column for Chad (appointments, obligations, and out-of-town trips — which, by the way, are happening more often than I’d like these days). I reserve the other two columns for random, miscellaneous events, ideas, or plans. For example, I might jot down some meal ideas or Must-Do projects or note someone’s birthday there.

Why am I so determined to keep a detailed weekly planner? For one thing, I’m kind of uptight about not missing appointments and never being late. And for another, I fear that having two children has depleted my supply of brain cells, and it’s becoming far too easy to forget the things I don’t write down. I feel so much better knowing that my BusyBodyBook sits on the counter, ready to remind me of what’s going on each day.

I tend to keep my calendar in ink. (I know, I know, it’s better to use a pencil because of how quickly and drastically things change — but I don’t like pencils. I don’t have a good reason for that…I just don’t.) And every once in a while, I look at my schedule for the week and can only think one thing:

When all the little squares start filling up, I tend to panic a bit. In fact, they don’t even have to fill all the way up; if every square contains an appointment or other obligation, I find myself wanting to go back to bed, climb under the covers, and read…ignoring the rest of the world. I don’t, of course. I do my best to soldier on through all the ink-noted items. But I really and truly do not like feeling over-scheduled. (My children will never have to worry about suffering from the whole Over-scheduled Kids Syndrome, because I’d never be able to handle the hectic schedule it would take to maintain such a Syndrome.)

Last week was a week of too much ink.

We made it through, but I must admit that I was so very happy to turn the page on that week and look at this week. It’s certainly not empty, but there’s a whole lot more white space. And even a few empty squares. Ahh…much better.

John Ortberg, in his book, When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box, recently reminded me, though, that there’s really no such thing as an empty square. “We are all square fillers,” he says.

In addition to the things we might write down on a calendar, we fill our days, our squares, with countless other activities. We drink coffee, talk to our spouses, play with our children, read books, sleep, vacuum up cat hair, run into the grocery store for a jug of milk. We have relationships to maintain, jobs to do, and most importantly, our God to pursue.

The question I’m left with is: How am I filling today’s square? Like it or not, I’ll be filling it with something. There wasn’t too much ink on today’s square in my calendar. My sister-in-law brought her baby daughter over this morning and we enjoyed some great conversation along with our yummy Pumpkin Oat Streusel Muffins while the kids played together. It was a wonderful, enjoyable morning.

The rest of the day is white space, according to my planner. But I’ll be filling that space, nonetheless. Here are some things I’d like to include, written with invisible ink on the paper of my day:

• Make L. giggle hard.
• Say something to encourage and confirm C..
• Spend time studying God’s Word. I’m in Luke 4.
• Fold the laundry that needs to be folded.
• Put laundry away so my family has what they need, readily available.
• Pray for a friend who is struggling.
• Go to bed at a reasonable hour so I can be well-rested tomorrow.

Every square has so much potential. I want to remember that even when my calendar looks amazingly, pleasantly empty, that I’ll be filling squares with each thing I do. I want to be a good square-filler.