...Not of the Essence

time is of the essence n. a phrase often used in contracts, which, in effect says: the specified time and dates in this agreement are vital and thus, mandatory, and "we mean it." Therefore, any delay, reasonable or not, slight or not, will be grounds for cancelling the agreement. (See: contract)

Copyright © 1981-2005 by Gerald N. Hill and Kathleen T. Hill. All Right reserved.

Failure to act within the time required constitutes a breach of the contract. The general rule is that time is not of the essence unless the contract expressly so provides. As a result, with respect to real estate transactions, the modern view is that time is not of the essence unless the parties have manifested such an intent. The same is generally true in construction contracts and in contracts relating to the manufacture of goods. When time is not of the essence, courts generally permit parties to perform their obligations within a reasonable time.

West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

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The week leading up to departing for an international adoption is a busy week of final preparations.  All that remains on my "priority list" has prompted me to think a lot about time, and to sleep very little.  As I have cleaned, sorted, organized and packed for seven people to spend a month in Colombia, I have had lots of time to think over the phrase "time is of the essence".  One night I found myself rushing from room to room putting things away, packing, washing, folding and simultaneously organizing while I directed bath time and cleaned up from general kid mess of the day, chanting to myself time is of the essence, time is of the essence, time is of the essence.  It's not that we're stressed.  It is just that there's just a set amount of stuff that needs to get done, and just barely a few more hours in excess of that list in which to accomplish everything.  Sleep takes second place to preparation during this leg of the journey.  I was an attentive younger sister of an Eagle Scout.  The scout motto: Be Prepared!

Now that the suitcases are mostly packed - and have been repacked a few times - I have been able to think about all we are leaving behind.  I have found out that truly for us and our relationships, time is NOT of the essence.  The Lord has blessed us richly with friends and family and a church who are supportive and encouraging, who already love our three new kiddos and who adore our little munchkins already at home.  In addition, while we will be stepping out of our roles here in North America for the next four weeks, time is not of the essence with those roles.  While we cannot keep up with those relationships that mean so much to us during our time away - and we haven't done a reasonable job of trying since we began our final sprint to bring these kiddos home - we know that those relationships won't expire or become invalid while we are away.  (See the legal definition above for time is of the essence.)   We treasure these precious friends, their great understanding of our love for our children, and our desire to be obedient to God's calling for our family. 

For the next day and a half I can concentrate on completing the priority list as I guzzle my liquid nap (Colombian coffee) and chant contentedly to myself: time is not of the essence, time is not of the essence.  Once we get to Colombia everything happens on their time anyway - an entirely different and more relaxed clock system with something like 26.4 hours per day.  It's a nice place!  You can pray that we'll all sleep when we get there!

On another note regarding timing: our meeting to receive the children will be Monday morning at 11 a.m. Colombian time - that's 10 a.m. MN time.