By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills
This summer we took a family vacation to the Rocky Mountain National Park, a favorite respite for my husband and me. This time, we had our son, daughter-in-law, and three enthusiastic grandkids to hike and enjoy park activities.
One morning I took a walk outside our cabin along the Fall River near Estes Park, Colorado. I marveled at the cloudless deep blue sky, distant snow-capped mountain peaks, green pines stretching to reach the sky, and the incredible beauty, smells, and sounds of nature. But the flowing river captured my attention. Whitecaps lifted and rushed forward, always moving, and paying no mind to anything in its way, a continuous flow. God’s natural white noise for rest and relaxation.
A thought occurred to me. The skyscraper mountains and trees stood motionless, but the river water rushed on. We are so much like that river—always in a hurry, racing to somewhere, and failing to slow down and experience life.
God showed me four life lessons during that special time:
- Stop the fast pace long enough to breathe in life.
- Stop the fast pace long enough to experience the scenery.
- Stop the fast pace long enough to treasure God’s blessings.
- Stop the fast pace long enough to touch the person beside you, then reach on to the next and the next.
I lingered by the river’s edge, mesmerized by the sweet, rhythmic sound that brought a gentle reminder of the highs and lows we encounter every day. All work together for good when we let God take over. He has so many blessings for us, and I don’t want us to miss a single one.
How do you slow down and experience life?
Comments 13
DiAnn,
Your messages are always spot-on. Thank you!
My grandchildren help me slow down and cherish the simple things in life. Discovering seeds in an apple core brought sheer delight to them the other day. Frequent moments like that remind me to be still and enjoy His creation.
God bless!
Yes, Terry, our grandchildren are a spark of life and God’s blessings to all of us. Thank you!
This may sound backwards, but I set my pace early in the morning. I am an early riser, and I spend 45 or more minutes each morning when it’s quiet having my time with God. I talk to Him and thank Him for all the requests he has granted to me, the good life He has given me, and for all the requests He’s granted to individuals for whom I pray. I ask for His help in living my life the way He wants me to live. I thank Him for the years I had with Jackie before He took her so suddenly and tragically. I could go on and on, but I also ask and pray for many, many requests for family and many others. I have a little plaque on the mantel I reflect on every morning. It was given to me by my son when he was probably 8 or 9 years old. It reads, “Along the Way, Take Time to Smell the Flowers.” Starting my day this way, I think, gives me a good start for the day.
DiAnn Thank you for your post. It will help me stop and enjoy the scenery that surrounds me.
Thanks for the reminder, DiAnn.
I am aching to be busy, to be working again. The worry I di dnot know was there, plus the stress over other situations drain my emotional, ans spiritual bank more than I realized before.
Ottwa, where I live, and Gatineau a city close by, teem with great spots to hike and just slow down and enjoy God’s creation. Each time I just walk the trail, my worryies decrease, as God invites me to relax and remember that He who cares for His physical handiwork, cares much more about me, and will provide.
Thank you, Frances. Stress destroys the body and mind. If we’re not careful, it will shatter our relationship with God. I’m convinced His creation shows us a powerful picture of His love.
So good. If we don’t take the time to slow down and enjoy the blessing of God, He’ll slow us down. It’s so easy to get involved in so many things in life. I walk each day. Even though I walk at the same place, I see something different each time I walk my path. God is so good.
Kathy, you are so right. Whenever I think I can run a marathon with life and its demands, God slows me down.
~Amen~
Thank you, Julie. Love your heart!
DiAnn, love this. I’m working on slowing the pace to appreciate what God places around me.
Sandy, we can’t really appreciate God’s world until we admire it. Thank you.
Thank you for this wonderful reminder! I try to take time every day to just sit, breathe, enjoy the quiet, Lorax and listen for God’s voice, maybe even take a short nap.
Thank you, Edwina. God is all around us if we simply take notice.