A Slow Life

I am so grateful that I am able to stay home with my children and that we chose to homeschool. Not for the reason you might think, after what happened today in Connecticut...but because of this:

We live a slow life. We look each other in the eyes over and over, every day. We're kind of crazy about each other, and we say so. We write down the things the kids say. We take pictures every day. There's no way the girls and I couldn't know that the man of the house loves us and thinks we are beautiful.

I know of no other way to breathe in the days than being home together...studying what we feel is important and on a higher grade level, too...eating (usually) meals together each night that I can feel good about...not feeling rushed to get to bed.

The slow life allows for top priorities to be met. It makes room for scripture and prayer time as a family. It makes room for personal quiet times to be developed. It makes room for exercise, art, music, and strategic relationships. And it allows for days where we don't feel all that energetic and we just want to stay in our jammies. It allows for afternoons playing in the mud with the dog! It allows for TIME. A precious commodity.

I don't know how my girls will choose to live their lives when they grow up. They may become fast paced driven business women, and that's probably a fun option. Some people are made for that, and that feels like a life of no regrets to them! That's cool! It takes us all to make this global community work. But I feel very blessed to get a CHOICE of how I'm going to live my life and run my household.

As I was walking today, I was just thinking what a wonderful, remarkable (thanks to the Lord and my family and friends) life I have had. Sometimes I get bummed that certain parts of my life are over, or at least feel over for the time being. Each season of my life I have been wholeheartedly present, but never more so than now. This season of family...it's the most challenging but the most precious. It's worth fighting for. It's worth fighting the ways of this world for. I'm learning to love and persevere. I'm learning to pray and not just think and say that I pray. I'm teaching my girls some things in our calendar have to go so that more important things have space to expand...

Breathe in our lungs, Spirit of God, and let our lives truly be for You. I'm not saying I know how to do that...but I want to be still enough to see You move, quiet enough to hear You speak, slow enough to sense Your heart.