"Slow down....."

We all need to slow down - I need to slow down. I am trying to be very intentional about slowing down the pace of our lives. I don't feel the need to do all, be all, and see all.  I know that I can't, and I am finally beginning to give myself the freedom to admit that and be okay with it. Life moves fast, and I can easily get caught in the current of it all - but I don't like to be in the current. I would much prefer to sit quietly on the edge of the water and enjoy the view. I think about this often, when I am starting to feel out of control and life is spinning and spiraling in many directions - and there are certainly seasons of life where the pace moves faster than at other seasons and you just have to buckle up for the ride. But, I think sometimes it's easy to get into a habit of moving quickly, feeling the pressure (or our children), to do it all, to be everything to everyone, and we don't even realize we are doing it.

Sometimes what I need is a ladybug to make me slow down! It's during these times that my vision becomes alittle clearer, and the line between the important and non-important becomes better defined. 

The kids and I sat in the yard and watched a ladybug take turns crawling up and down all 10 fingers on each of our hands for close to 30 minutes recently. He would crawl from one finger to another, then to another hand, then up and down ours arms and we would pass him off to the next person and there he would do the same. We just sat there, had a thousand things to do, but at that moment, nothing was more important than watching this ladybug turn our hands into an obstacle course. I don't know why I was so fascinated - maybe because the kids were - maybe because we were all happy in the same space for an extended period of time, maybe because it was good, cheap entertainment, or maybe it just felt good to sit and be still. For whatever reason, I was thankful for this little moment in time and space. It seems so insignificant, but in the moment, it was big.