slowing down

 

I have something to confess. I am a hurry-up-and-get-it-done type of person. I would love to say that this isn't always the case, but it wouldn't be true. I have this thing I do that when I'm excited about something, I can't wait for that day to arrive that I get to go or do whatever it is I'm excited about, then while I'm there, the time flies. I don't know what this says about me except that maybe I'm extremely impatient. This can be said of the time in which our sons grew up or in looking forward to a vacation.

Just last week, a friend of mine posted something on Facebook that resonated with me. It was something about not wishing away her kids' lives and that she could never say that the time flew by during their growing up years. I could not agree with her, because for me, the time flew by really quickly, though I don't feel like I wished their years away. We both love our kids and we especially enjoyed them at all the different ages throughout their years. I can't say what this difference in us would be, other than that her life is different from my life and her last three or four years have been very hard. 

All of that being said, I have to sometimes remind myself to slow down. I often feel the pull in my life to slow down when the six of us are together as a family. Sometimes I don't say much in those moments, I'm just soaking in the quality time. That was the case on my birthday back in December. We went to Lost Pizza Co. here in The Ville and I soaked up the feeling of us all together again. I loved sitting in the middle of the table, with them all around me. I felt loved, I felt appreciated and I felt so proud to be their mom. In the moments that we're together, I love to be in the middle of them and I love when they give me their undivided attention. I don't want these moments to pass by too quickly, as they often seem to do.

In the instances when I've taken the time to slow down, I've discovered how someone feels about something. I've discovered what one son's dream is, or what their goal in life is at that moment. I've discovered that the mess will be there long after they're gone, so I've lingered at the table for longer than usual. I've discovered that when everyone else leaves the room, one son starts talking, that he's always patient to wait like that and he gives everyone their turn first before speaking up on his own.

I'm not always comfortable when things move slow. As a small group leader in Bible study, I was given some advice regarding this one time. My friend told me that in the moment when I ask a question and nobody answers, to count to twelve slowly in my head before answering. It's often in those final moments—ten, elven, twelve—that someone speaks up. There is one dear older sister in my small group that I'm talking about and when she speaks, you had better lean in and pay attention, one because she is super quiet, but also because she has profound wisdom. I'm looking forward to hearing from her lots during our Bible study this semester. 

So, to quote my Pastor, the $64,000 question is this: How does one slow down in life, or in a task?

Or, how do I slow down? I know that in reading through the Bible this year, I've been taking notes each day. I don't write a lot each day, but I at least write down the highlights or something that stood out to me. Doing that one small thing helps me to slow down and absorb whatever I'm reading. I also try to do something similar when I'm praying. Just yesterday morning when I started praying, I decided to come into the living room with my coffee to sit and talk to Jesus. Praying somewhere different helped me get out of the rut I was in. Sometimes in order to slow down, I read. I'll put my phone facedown on a table and turn it to silent so that I'm not distracted. Speaking of being distracted, there's an iconic passage in Scripture that I'd love to share with you, even though I'm sure you've read it a thousand times.

Luke 10:38-42 says this: While they were traveling, he entered a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the Lord's feet and was listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, and she came up and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand." The Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her."

Martha gets a bad rap in this story, at least in my opinion, because I have Martha tendencies. I know it's best to be like Mary and though I do try to be more like her sometimes, I don't always succeed. Which are you most like in this passage? I think most moms are like Martha. I like how Jesus said her name twice to drive home His point. 

I don't have any definitive answer in this question. I'll ask you now—how do you slow down? I would love to hear from you. Thanks for reading my blog, friends. This was a writing prompt idea I was given through the Hope Writers program. #hopewriterlife 

Love to all. ❤