Time

"Being in a hurry. Getting to the next thing without fully entering the thing in front of me. I cannot think of a single advantage I've ever gained from being in a hurry. But a thousand broken and missed things, tens of thousands, lie in the wake of all the rushing...Through all that haste, I thought I was making up time.  It turns out I was throwing it away."  This is a quote I have read over and over in the book One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.

I agree.  In hindsight and just from living every day, I have enjoyed more and live more fully when I was still--in the moment, fully present.  It seems I find myself in that battle often--the things that need to be done, the things I want to do, the pleas from the boys to come and play...time.  We often complain that we do not have enough, but God gives us the exact amount of time He purposes for us.  It is my responsibility to use it wisely.  

Have you ever been present in the room with someone-even having a conversation with them and the entire time you know they just aren't really "listening"? They aren't fully present--truth be told--they could care less what you are saying.  I have been practicing just stopping mid sentence when I have that feeling and seeing if they notice.  I did it twice yesterday and neither time did the other person notice.  I wish I could just continue to tell stories of times I have been the victim but the truth is I am too often guilty.  Guilty of not stopping and just listening--to others when they talk, to look at the tiny bug on the sidewalk that Jackson has spotted, to listen to the story prediction sequence that John Gannon starts when he looks at a picture in a book...sadly, the list is long.  

As I continue to re-read and absorb the points she makes about time in this book, I am reminded of processing the same thing after reading A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller.  You would think I would have gotten it the first time!  (I have to read this book slowly just like I did Miller's book--obviously my brain takes a while to absorb what they are really saying).  But my soul needs it and I would venture to guess--so does yours!  Time to relish in the fullness of Christ--time to see the small things and praise the Creator for the complexity of the simply...Speaking of small things, as we travel, I am most often wowed--by the small things--the simple beauty of a sunset at the ocean, the sound of the river as it flows over the rocks, or the mist gathered at the peak of a mountain--the things the signs point too--most often they are disappointments (not quite as spectacular as I thought they may be).  The small things--conversation and time with friends and family, playing with kids, being held in the embrace of my warrior husband...time--being fully present and not feeling rushed or only being partially tuned because my thoughts are somewhere else--may I continue to cherish the time I have been graciously given on this earth.