Slow down and take time to enjoy the day.

The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail. Travel too fast and you miss all you are traveling for.

~Louis L'Amour

There's nothing like a solo hike in the woods to be able to slow down and enjoy the journey but it's so hard in our day to day, rushed lives to feel like we have time to enjoy the journey. I believe our journey is defined by many of our choices.  If you feel rushed and panicked in the morning trying to get out the door for your day (or getting the kids out the door), have you considered getting up a little earlier? Maybe try enjoying the journey rather than having 30 extra minutes in bed. Try leaving early and enjoy the drive instead of fretting about the traffic. Sitting in traffic for me is extra time to enjoy the scenery or an additional 30 minutes to listen to my favorite book. Getting to the office early means some quiet time to enjoy that cup of coffee rather than a hurried race to your desk to start the work day. It's amazing how crazy all the other drivers are out there when they are blocking your RACE to wherever you're going. Somehow they fade into the background when you aren't late and you feel you can just settle in with the flow.

There's nothing I like more than a quiet hike in one of our many available natural areas but even then it seems too many are out for the race. Their purpose seems to be how fast they can get back to the trail head or campsite. They miss so much of what's there to be seen. This Junco nest was less than a foot off the Appalachian Trail. If you travel quietly and in tune with your surroundings, you can spot them as the mother bird flies away as you approach. If she hears you coming from a mile away like a freight train, you'll never see the nests.

How much have you missed while barrelling through your life's journey? Slow down, take a walk with a toddler and see how wondrous life can be when you take the time to look.

I'm so bad!

It is so hard to be a Christian sometimes. I was laughed at all day at work today by several of my coworkers. I had told everyone including my boss that I was leaving when the first snowflake falls from our predicted winter storm - I left 45 minutes early and it was with the first snowflake. Twenty minutes later, all roads around the area were nothing but parking lots! Luckily my trip home was in the direction away from the approaching storm and my regular 40 minute drive had me clear of all traffic jams and turning into my driveway just as the snow began to accumulate. Now don't get me wrong, I am a hard worker and with the storm predicted a few days earlier, I had arrived at work 2 hours early so as to get my work done. I felt ok about leaving 45 minutes early (or whenever the first flake fell).  I just can't help it, I hope they all had a terrible time getting home!

I know, I know that's a terrible attitude and I feel bad about it. I'd hate to think how I'd react to a really serious temptation from my ol' friend Satan.

Please Father forgive me and teach me humility.

When did it become OK?

This morning on my way to work I came up on two school buses, only two. What struck me was that both of them were stopped with lights flashing and folding stop signs out but there were no kids in sight. We sat a moment and the buses each turned the flashing lights off, pulled in the stop signs and sat there waiting for me to go on or around them. As I moved on, they sat. I heard one honk the horn. And they sat. They were WAITING for kids to come out.

When did our schools start teaching that it is ok to be late? Used to be if you weren't waiting by the side of the road when the school bus came, you missed the ride! I notice more and more that people seem to consider it alright to be late - late to appointments, late to school, late to work, and late to meet up with friends. I don't know about you but I find this inconsiderate as seemingly small as it may be.

Here we go....my first post!

Today would have been my mother's 100th birthday. As I contemplate my life, my thoughts, it cannot be done without looking back on how I have come to where I am today. The heritage of my family, the love we shared and the love shared by generations before is the starting point for the relationship and views I have of God and my place in His world. I have taken my views of who God is from my father and his relationship with God and his relationship with my mother and with family. I viewed him and his relationship with my mother as the closest thing to being like Christ a mortal human can be. While I was only 13 at the time of his death, those years together were all I needed to shape my view of my world - my parents' union with God and their union together as one.

My God is a loving and just God.