Happy New Year

At the stroke of midnight last night, 2026 began. There will be 365 days in the new year.

That means we have 8,760 hours, or 525,600 minutes, or 31,536,000 seconds before

the year ends. What do you plan to do with your time? According to a Department of

Labor report, we will spend an average of 8 hours and 33 minutes a day sleeping.

For most of us, work takes up the largest chunk of our waking hours. Many of us work

a 40-hour week. Others work longer. Some of us work a lot of overtime, or have more

than one job, leaving little time for other things. The survey tells us that 89% of people

with full-time jobs spend an average of 8 1/2 weekday hours at work each day. 31%

work an average of 5 hours and 24 minutes on weekends.

Learning is the key to success. We average 28 minutes a day with educational activities.

What about household chores. The survey shows that Americans spend on average

about 18 minutes a day on house cleaning with an additional 11 minutes a day doing

laundry. We average 34 minutes a day preparing meals and cleaning up after. We spend

about 14 minutes a day doing indoor and outdoor home repairs, including lawn care,

mowing, weeding, fertilizing. People in charge of household finances, paying the bills,

doing taxes, etc., work their financial magic for 45 minutes a day.

Of course, we all need to unwind at some point. On a typical weekday, we spend 4 hours

and 43 minutes engaged in leisure activities. That includes

• Watching TV - an average of 2 hours, 48 minutes a day.

• Socializing - On weekdays we average around 24 minutes at social events. On

weekends and holidays, about 59 minutes.

• Exercise and Sports. We know how important it is to keep the body in shape.

Men spent 1 hour 42 minutes working out or playing sports. Women exercised or

played sports for an hour and 18 minutes.

• Eating and Drinking. We averaged about an hour and 11 minutes for meals and

snacks.

• Shopping. We average 46 minutes a day grocery shopping. Americans spend

about 50 minutes a day shopping for other things.

• Reading. Americans age 15-54 spend 10 minutes or less reading for personal

interest. Senior citizens read more. People 75 or older read an average of 48

minutes a day.

Parents with at least one child under the age of 6 spend an average of 2 hours, 9 minutes

caring for and helping children. Men take care of children for about an hour and 18

minutes a day. Women spend about 2 hours and 49 minutes. Parents of children

between the ages of 6 and 12 spend about an hour caring for the kiddos. Folks read to

their kids an average of 28 minutes a day. Americans play with their youngsters for

about an hour and 43 minutes a day. People spend just under an hour a day helping

their kids with homework. Parents with children between 6-and 17-years old average

about 6 minutes a day going to school plays, baseball or soccer games, and other

functions.

With all that going on, is it any wonder we are so tired?

Finally, on average Americans spend 51 minutes a day grooming but only about 18

minutes a day volunteering or participating in religious activities. That means we spend

almost 3 times longer on our outward appearance than we do on our inward. There is

an entire sermon in that.

So, how do you plan to spend your 525,600 minutes in 2026? Sleeping, eating, caring

for kids or grandkids? Those are all good things. But let me challenge you to spend time

every day with God. Being in church, reading your Bible and praying daily, serving the

church and community are all wonderful ways to spend your time. The best part of

spending your time with God is the blessing you will get. Who doesn’t have time for

that?

I hope you will spend an hour of your time at church on Sunday.

Pastor Marty