The benefits of slowing down...


“Phyllis” gave my dad a throw blanket many years ago, it had a poem on it.  He still has it laying over one of the chairs in the basement.

I like to walk with Grandpa,
His steps are short like mine.
He doesn't say "Now hurry up!"
He always takes his time.
Most people have to hurry,
They do not stop and see.
I'm glad that God made Grandpa
"Unrushed" and young like me.

 
If you know me, you know I am always moving, keep going, and usually in a hurry.  In the last two weeks I’ve been forced to slow my roll.  Eat slower, walk slower, be patient.  When I’d get hurried I’d remember this poem, and remember how my dad was so patient with Phyllis, how she’d ride the tractor or tinker with his computers.  I think his favorite picture will be the one when she was little and was “working on” a computer with a little screw driver.  Seriously so cute.
That poem reminds me to slow down, the last thing in the world I want is for my dad to feel like he is a burden or that he's too slow.  When I was young, he had to teach me, and slow down for me.  So I try to be patient (sometimes I do better than others).  A new part of fruit to work on.

In these times, I’ve come to realize that the most important things are not how much I can get accomplished but how well I can love someone.  I’ve always been task driven, it’s easy to accomplish a task.  It hurts to get hurt by people.  It’s hard to put myself “out there” because I hate the thought of being hurt. But it’s worth it.
Relationship.

Life is about love. 
Galatians 5:22-23 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

 

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