Unhurried

This week’s message in church was all about slowing life down a bit.

Slowing down enough to enjoy the real pleasures in life.

We have all said it hundreds of times, I have said it BILLIONS of times.

Of course, like many things, it’s easier said than done.

I, for example, will tell myself that the housework can be put on hold for today, because I’m going to take the kids to park and actually play with them.

Or, I’m going to hold off on cooking dinner for a few more minutes so I can play CandyLand with them.

I will do these things, for a few days, but then I fall out of it all too quickly.

Other things just need to be done, and I quit staying up past 9 o’clock a while ago.

Where do we find the time?

The answer is, there is just simply not enough time…AT ALL.

But…there are more important things right?

During the church service earlier this week, there was a baby dedication.

I love those.

I mostly love seeing the cute babies being held by their daddies.

I was good, until the big screen zoomed in on a sweet baby girl, who was probably about 6 months old.

Then, I lost it.

I looked at Caleb, and I began crying just a bit.

That used to be MY baby girl.

It was MY baby girl with the chubby cheeks, pink headband, and sweet smile.

I have loved so much seeing her grow, but man…I miss that baby.

The pastor then read a few lyrics from a song, and if you know the story behind this song, it will make you cry right now.

It’s called “Cinderella”, written by Steven Curtis Chapman.

So I will dance with Cinderella while she’s here in my arms

Cause I know something the prince never knew

Oh, I will dance with Cinderella, I don’t want to miss even one song

Cause all too soon, the clock will strike midnight, and she’ll be gone. 

Goodness, it’s hard not to tear up again!

I guess what makes me so sad is I feel like I missed a lot my babies lives.

I worked full-time when Mackenzy & Camden were babies, and when Miller was a baby I had two other toddlers to worry about.

My down time consisted of laundry (still does), “me” projects, baking goodies for my friends, and sad to say…computer time.

None of my children are listed in those things, and now that time is gone.

I can’t describe how much I miss that baby phase, I never thought I would miss it.

I would almost wish the days away, hoping to skip forward a few years.

I wish I had taken the time, the time to slow down, time to just cuddle and love on my babies with nothing else to do.

So now, my goal is to be unhurried.

This and that can wait, but my ever growing kids can’t.

They will be gone one way or another.

I know we all have a million things to do, learning to say “no” to just one thing is just the beginning of a rush-free, blessed life.

Free up some time to do nothing, and to just enjoy the surroundings.

When I sit down, I have to force myself to not think about the other things I could be doing, but it’s worth it, believe me.

I don’t want to feel like this again in 5 years because I missed out on the next phase of life.

So this morning, instead of quickly unloading the dishwasher and putting it all away before someone gets into it, I’m going to sit down and snuggle up with all three of my babies.

Hey…maybe I will even read them a story!

Can you see why I miss this so much?