SUZI: Slowly...

Now that I've started contributing to this blog, I've realized that most of what I've written has been about parenting. I suppose that's because my day is usually consumed with being Cooper's mom. I'm sure in the past I've probably rolled my eyes at those who do nothing but talk about their children. But here I am, talking constantly about my baby boy and how he has affected my life. (Feel free to roll your eyes at me.)

Today Cooper and I drove around running errands, and I suddenly had such an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for having him with me. I was so happy just to be his mom. I feel privileged that I'm not working a job right now. I feel like this time with him is a special gift for me. I know I am blessed beyond words.

One of the things on the to-do list today was to dig a small table out of our storage unit. Scott and I discovered it was toward the back...under a pile of boxes. So a quick trip to the storage unit turned out to take a bit longer than expected. We ended up being a lot dustier and sweatier than I had hoped, which meant more clean up than I had planned to do before church. I got Cooper ready and was quickly running out of time for myself.

Scott volunteered to take the little guy and go ahead to church so I could have a few minutes to finish up. As I heard the car pull out of the driveway, I suddenly felt my body relax. I wasn't having to trim any microscopic nails, wipe a squirming face, break into song and dance to bring some entertainment to a diaper change, or run as fast as I could upstairs to replace a lost pacifier (which I just had to do while I was writing this!). It was just me. As much as I love Cooper, my body and mind eased when I knew I had a few minutes to myself. Unconsciously, I slowed down. I realized it was taking me forever to get finished, but I just couldn't quite make my body speed up. I was a few minutes late to church as a result, but as soon as I walked in and saw my sweet baby boy I felt my energy jump back up. I just needed a little bit of time to recharge - I hadn't even realized it before.

Now, just so I can say that I write about more than just being a mom, what if we applied that same principle to our lives in general? What if we took just a little bit of time and did nothing? How much better could we do everything else if we just spent a little time on nothing at all. The Lord says "be still and know I am God." I think He's trying to let us know that we all need a little down time...a little time to just sit and be still, not thinking or trying to figure anything out. Perhaps a little rest would make us better parents, friends, children, workers. That break will never come our way if we just keep running 100 miles an hour...we have to force ourselves to stop for a bit. Not an easy task, but one that probably has results greater than we realize.