It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)
All of our past posts have been placed HERE if you want to go back and read one.
I was thinking about the topic of stress, and was challenged in my morning reading by John Mark Comer and his book, "The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry". It's been a challenging read and I'm still working through the application. Today I read a chapter on "slowing down", which I quickly disregarded. I've got too much to do today to slow down!
Later today I ran an errand that included getting gas.
It was actually comical.
- I hit every light on the way to the gas station.
- I chose the gas line that moved the slowest (by mistake)
- The car in front of me had a problem, so they couldn't move out of way in order for me to get gas. I just sat and laughed.
- Leaving the gas station, I got stuck at a traffic light that wasn't working, and it took almost 10 minutes for me to get through it.
My 10 minute errand took me almost an hour to complete.
I don't have time today to learn any lessons! I've got too much to do.
Simon and Garfunkel begin one of their great songs with these words:
"Slow down, you move too fast. You got to make the morning last. Just kicking down the cobblestones, looking for fun and feeling groovy."
I want to feel groovy!
I was reading an article online about PACE, and they asked these three questions:
- What's your walking pace? Do you know how to walk slowly?
- How fast do you eat your meals? Can you slow that down?
- When you tackle chores or tasks, do you try to get through them as quickly as possible or do you take your time in doing them?
My answer to all three of these questions was simply "I do these things fast".
Here are the questions for you today:
- What can you SLOW DOWN in your life, on purpose?
- What can you ENJOY taking more time doing?
- When was the last time you intentionally walked at a leisurely pace?
I can spend time here helping you understand what stress is and what it does to your body, your life, your relationships and your soul.
Or, we can spend time sharing solutions and helping and encouraging each other to make the changes needed for us all to find that "groovy life" or as Christ calls it in John 10, "abundant life".
"Once she stopped rushing through life, she was amazed how
much more life she had time for." Unknown
Remember this verse I shared last week:
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me-watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." Matthew 11 (MSG)
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