From the Elder's Pen "The Big Rocks" 6/23/02 Past/Future Articles

     One day an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students and to drive home a point, used an illustration the students would never forget.  As he stood in front of the group of high-powered over-achievers he said, “Okay, time for a quiz.”  He then pulled out a one-gallon, wide mouthed Mason jar and placed it on the table in front of him.
     Next, he brought out about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar.  When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, “Is the jar full?”  Everyone in the class said,  “Yes.”
     He then reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel.  He dumped some gravel in the jar and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the larger rocks.
     Then he asked the group once more, “Is the jar full?”  By this time the class was on to him.  “Probably not,” one of them answered.  “Good,” he replied.  He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand.  He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel.  Once more he asked the question, “Is the jar full?”  “No,” the class answered.
     Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim.  He looked at the class and asked, “What is the point of this illustration?”  One eager student raised his hand and said, “The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in.”
     “No,” the speaker replied.  “That’s not the point.  The truth this illustration teaches us is that if you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all.”  If the sand, gravel, and water had been placed in the jar first, then the larger rocks would have never fit.
     What are the “big rocks” in your life?  The Lord and the church?  Your children?  Your loved one?  Your education?  Your dreams?  A worthy cause?  Teaching and helping others?  Doing things you enjoy?  Time for yourself?  Your health?  Your spouse?
     Remember to put the big rocks in first or you’ll never get them in al all.  If you concentrate on the smaller things of life that are usually less important, then you’ll run out of time for taking care of the really important things of life.
     What are the ’big rocks’ in your life?  ~selected