The cool night air was moving in as I watched Sammy playing with 30 other kids at Park Valencia on Santana Row. I pulled my jacket tight around me as I leaned back in my chair and grinned. I was a spectator from the sidelines, taking in the magic of the moment.
Children who had met five minutes prior were now the best of friends as they threw a football and lined up for competitive races. An older boy took Sammy under his wing to make sure that Sammy got a turn with the football. Sammy was running and jumping and laughing with pure delight.
I could have drank in the goodness of that scene for an hour. But football boy had to leave and our food arrived, so the moment was cut short. It was just a moment, but it was mine.
I must have said to Andy half a dozen times, "This was such a good idea. Thank you for bringing us here tonight." I hadn't even realized how much my heart was thirsty for it.
I don't know about you, but I feel like one week steamrolls into the next around here. I assume I'll be able to finish this weekend all the things on my to-do list that I didn't get to this week, but lo and behold, it's Sunday night and here comes the next week with the same to-do list. Only several more things have been added. The weight of what I didn't get done drains the life out of me.
More days than I'd like to admit are spent feeling guilty and defeated by everything I didn't get accomplished. Instead of living with thankfulness and joy, failures are magnified and pulled into focus. Why do we do that to ourselves? We tend to live our lives with our heads down and hand to the plow, working so hard for the harvest that we miss the magic of the moment.
But sometimes, we just need to stop.
To look up.
To notice, or find, or create a moment of beauty at which we can marvel.
Like Andy's day off a couple of weeks ago when he spontaneously suggested, "Let's go to Monterey for the day."
Yes. Let's.
Let's share a picnic on a grassy field with the sunshine beating on our legs. Let's eat frozen yogurt with our kids and laugh at the tremendous mess they are capable of making. Let's lay on our tummies and watch our boys play in the sand against a backdrop of the Pacific. Let's drink in the goodness of being a family all over again.
We swept the debris from the week away from a moment and created a sacred space.
You may not get to take a week's vacation any time soon. You may even struggle to find a full day to relax. But you can take a moment.
Go for a walk with your spouse. Play UNO with your child. Listen to your favorite song at full volume with all the windows rolled down.
What moment can you claim as your own today?
Children who had met five minutes prior were now the best of friends as they threw a football and lined up for competitive races. An older boy took Sammy under his wing to make sure that Sammy got a turn with the football. Sammy was running and jumping and laughing with pure delight.
I could have drank in the goodness of that scene for an hour. But football boy had to leave and our food arrived, so the moment was cut short. It was just a moment, but it was mine.
I must have said to Andy half a dozen times, "This was such a good idea. Thank you for bringing us here tonight." I hadn't even realized how much my heart was thirsty for it.
I don't know about you, but I feel like one week steamrolls into the next around here. I assume I'll be able to finish this weekend all the things on my to-do list that I didn't get to this week, but lo and behold, it's Sunday night and here comes the next week with the same to-do list. Only several more things have been added. The weight of what I didn't get done drains the life out of me.
More days than I'd like to admit are spent feeling guilty and defeated by everything I didn't get accomplished. Instead of living with thankfulness and joy, failures are magnified and pulled into focus. Why do we do that to ourselves? We tend to live our lives with our heads down and hand to the plow, working so hard for the harvest that we miss the magic of the moment.
But sometimes, we just need to stop.
To look up.
To notice, or find, or create a moment of beauty at which we can marvel.
Like Andy's day off a couple of weeks ago when he spontaneously suggested, "Let's go to Monterey for the day."
Yes. Let's.
Let's share a picnic on a grassy field with the sunshine beating on our legs. Let's eat frozen yogurt with our kids and laugh at the tremendous mess they are capable of making. Let's lay on our tummies and watch our boys play in the sand against a backdrop of the Pacific. Let's drink in the goodness of being a family all over again.
We swept the debris from the week away from a moment and created a sacred space.
You may not get to take a week's vacation any time soon. You may even struggle to find a full day to relax. But you can take a moment.
Go for a walk with your spouse. Play UNO with your child. Listen to your favorite song at full volume with all the windows rolled down.
What moment can you claim as your own today?
1 comment:
AMEN to both posts today: Take a Moment, & may ALL our egg hunts in all our churches be about HIM.
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