Forced to Slow Down

I'll admit it...I've barely done any work in 3 days.

After Monday I figured I would miss Tuesday, but at worst I'd be back in on Friday. Nope. As people around the country can attest, it's crazy to go anywhere in this weather. It's fun to tromp around and sled, but nuts to drive if you don't have to.

So thinking I'd only miss one/two days of work I packed just the normal stuff to come home. Not much, but enough to put a sermon or lesson plan together if need be. Then...the worst happened. E-mail went down.

So for 3 days I have texted and called people, and made use of Facebook, but when it came down to it...there wasn't a ton that NEEDED to be done. And how do I know that? Because the joy of my daughter coming to collect me from the computer at home so I'll chase her down the hallway is much more important than a blog post (she's napping now by the way). The time to spend with my wife planning our vacation or just watching TV together is more important than what the worship theme will be 2 weeks from now.

The snow and ice...have forced me to slow down. And I've liked what I've seen.

Granted, the stress of having to complete tasks and get the ship rolling again will be tough and the stress involved with the "do we have Upward Basketball Saturday or not question" is tough, but for 4 days now I have focused on family, realized words my daughter can say that I hadn't heard before and regained empathy for what my wonderful wife does every day.

Today we took turns walking in the snow since my daughter didn't want to go play and after slipping twice I began to walk slower and slower. My usual pace of about a million steps a minute became a steady gait and I did not have my cell phone, ipod touch or computer to weigh me down. In the moments going out I thanked God for the nature I hadn't paid attention to in a long time. I prayed for those people in my church and I prayed for those who God wanted us to reach. I prayed with sadness for those without heat or food during this time.

And on the way back I saw my house and I thanked God for heat, shelter, food and water. I thanked God for a beautiful, intelligent wife who I have spent more time with in the last 4 days then the last 2 weeks. I thanked God for a daughter and another daughter on the way who can light up the room in an instant.

What was I doing before I took a walk, you might ask? Cursing the snow and the cold weather for not letting me do what I wanted to do.

It's amazing how those things you think are in your way, can provide small reminders of the way things should be.