Monday, February 14, 2011

Time


Happy Valentines Day!
Would it be wrong for my post to not be Valentiney today? {gulp} Well... maybe I can tie it together at the the end...


Yesterday I was given the gift of TIME. It was one of those Sunday afternoons where we had nothing going on, no where to be until evening, and our daughter slept for almost 4 hours! It was blessed. Add in the amazing sunshine that was streaming in our bedroom window and this momma was living high on life :)


I've mentioned several times now that I'm reading through, "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp - and I'm just bubbling over from my reading yesterday. It's strangely ironic to me that while I was laying in my sun filled bed room reading, that the chapter title should be "a sanctuary of time" about Time. When, here I was already feeling so greatful for these "free" hours in my day! I just wanted to share some of Ann's thoughts from this chapter - and encourage all of us to slow down and treasure life a little bit more. I know I needed the reminder, even on my slowest day.
"We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing."
Psalm 39:6
Towards the middle of the chapter - Ann has already shared how her house is a mess, dishes and laundry and childrens toys seem to have taken over her home. Yet, here she stands, over the sink - taking the time to enjoy and be thankful for the beauty she sees in the sun patterns of a soap bubble. You know... when the sun hits soap it turns all sorts of bright oily colors. It is pretty and I admit - I 've done this before myself. Then she has this revelation...
"I speak it to God: I don't really want more time; I just want enough time. Time to breathe deep and time to see real and time to laugh long, time to give You glory and rest deep and sing joy and just enough time in a day not to feel hounded, pressed, driven, or wild to get it all done - yesterday."
I was so challenged by that thought. I feel like so often that IS my prayer, too. It's not that I want longer days or more weekend time... I just want to somehow learn to make the MOST of the time I have been given. So then this one liner hit me hard, too...
"Life is so urgent it necessitates living slow."
What a blessing this life truly is, even in the hard days. God's gift of love to us is TIME and LIFE. So maybe this is Valentiney afterall? Ann closes the chapter with this short sentence - "I want to savor long whatever time holds." And, that's my prayer today, too. I want to enjoy every minute.
I want to savor the look on my little ones face as she opened her Valentine gift this morning.
I want to soak in the warmth of my husbands morning hugs.
I want to fall in Love so deeply with God that I'm mindful of every minute I have here on earth to love and serve Him.
Time. And like J.R.R. Tolkien once said,
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."
Happy Valentines Day! Savor it. Savor every sweet moment. And, take 2 minutes to check out Ann's blog post today for this special holiday - I am really so much enjoying her depth lately.

1 comment:

Alicia Lenoir said...

Thank you Mandy for reminding us to think of the time that slips away from us if we don't take the time to savor it. I find myself somedays getting so wrapped up in the unperfect things of the house or individuals and not really being thankful for the time I have to spend with others and the material things I own.