Because I’d really rather my children catch me reading a book with paper pages than staring at a 1×3 screen.

“A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stop and stare.” ~William Henry Davies

Time outside, to remind them of the vastness of creation that points to a Creator…an opportunity to be reminded over and again of their frailty and need.

Age doesn’t limit my desire to plant big seeds.

Room for their eyes and minds to wander in places of beauty and detail.

*******

Admiring simpler times, I’ve often wondered at the busyness that life invites me into.

I don’t relate to it or desire it.

Pulling away from it, however, was easier said than done.

Yet once the decision, one that had been on the table for who knows how long, was acted on, I’ve found such great relief.

With a meal & dishes in the review, sometimes I just sit.

And soak up moments…in ways I wanted to before.

I’m reading books that have long been collecting dust.

And at the indirect advice of a woman I greatly admire, I look into their little eyes. I listen fully to their stories.

It does go by quickly.

There are messes always needing to be picked up.

Plenty of opportunities for inviting wayward hearts to come back to Truth.

But that was always there…now the pace is different.

It’s the slower pace my heart was looking for.

And, on this side of it, I can only say I wish I had done it sooner.