28 Sep Not in a Hurry

My son stands up high in our treehouse, waving at me from his perch among the oaks. “Momma, come play with me!” I don’t hesitate. “I’m coming! What are we playing?” His response is certain, “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. You are Queen Susan and I am King Peter.” Secretly, I would choose to be Lucy any day of the week, but I readily agree. Susan it is.

Within a half hour, we have defeated the White Witch and restored order to the land. We have even been crowned with a few round items we found in our yard and sat down on our thrones together.

I’m going to be super honest with you, friends. In my almost 12 years of motherhood, there have been many times I have not always been so eager to spend an hour in imaginative play with my children. Why? While my answer may vary on any given day, my “no’s” usually revolve around other responsibilities and productivity including but not limited to cleaning, cooking, homeschool prep and seminary assignments.

Present in the Moment

There is nothing like watching your firstborn grow from a premature newborn to a tall and energetic pre-teen to sober a mother about the fleeting nature of time. This summer as I swam breaststroke in our neighborhood pool (which Grace says I still don’t do correctly) I thought about Psalm 39:5 “You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.”

All summer long I was a blubbering mess around the kids when I reflected on how fast childhood flies by. Alas, my sentimentality didn’t even stop with my own kids. I honed in on every moment with every one of my friends’ children, too. I studied all their little faces, noticing the ways their eyes crinkled when they smile. My heart swelled with delight when one of them would say, “Watch me dive, Mrs. Thomas!” or “Play under the mushroom with me, Ms. Laura!“

While there is no way to keep them from growing up, I know that what I can do is to slow down and savor the moments, being fully present with them each and every day.

The last few weeks I have been listening to a fabulous book on Audible during my morning jogs called “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry” by John Mark Comer. Comer is a dad who, like many Americans, was an over-working, under-living man until he heard the response of Dallas Willard to a questioner who asked him how to live life and follow Jesus well. Willard’s answer was simple: “Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.” When asked, “What else?,” Willard simply said, “That’s it.”

In the book, Comer quotes Corrie Ten Boom, “if the devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy“. “There’s truth in that,” Comer writes. “Both sin and busyness have the exact same effect—they cut off your connection to God, to other people, and even to your own soul.“

Jesus defined success in life not in 401ks or properties owned; not in titles of honor or accolades given by people. His definition of success had to do with being faithful to God and to those whom God had entrusted to Him. If a successful life is measured in loving God and others well, it would be safe to say that anything that keeps us from being fully present and invested in our relationship with God and others should be ruthlessly eliminated.

What keeps you from being present in the moment? From saying “yes” more often to a game of hide and seek with your kids or a stroll in the woods with your spouse? What keeps you from getting away to lonely places to spend time in prayer with your Lord?

For each of us, the answer will likely be slightly different. Is it over-working? What can you do to create a more manageable workload? Is it too much time on your phone or other screens? Consider turning off your phone after a certain hour each day so it isn’t a temptation to check emails rather than engage your family.

The emails and projects can wait. Let’s take a trip to Narnia instead.