Rolling Down Windows and Slowing Down Time
As I was driving back to campus, a million thoughts ran through my mind.
It is 4:56. I can be back to my room by exactly 5:00. I have that meeting at 6:00, but I bet I can finish my paper by 5:30. Next I will check my email, then I will run to the library to print my paperwork, and then...
I stopped in the middle of my thoughts. The line of planning halted and crashed just like what happens when someone at the front of a moving line stops abruptly when no one else is paying attention. It creates a domino effect of crashing and bumping.
I remembered what I had read recently in One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp: "Thanksgiving makes time."
I had just finished reading a chapter in which she wrote about Jesus feeding the five thousand. When Jesus held the five loaves and two fishes in his hand, he gave thanks. "When he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people." (Matthew 15:36) Voskamp pointed out that thanksgiving always precedes the miracle. It was thankfulness that turned not enough into more than enough.
It's the same with time. When we live in the moment, forgetting what is behind and what is ahead, we are truly free to be thankful for every moment. We begin to notice the thousand shades of lime green in the springtime, the crawling caterpillar on the sidewalk, and the ringing laughter of a friend. On the road to Emmaus, the disciples only noticed who Jesus was when they slowed down and stopped walking. If we slowed down and embraced every moment fully, how much more would we see and recognize the presence of Jesus?
Thanksgiving makes time. Thankfulness turns not enough time into more than enough time. Slowing down and living in the moment enables us to recognize the fullness of the presence of Jesus. Voskamp writes that instead of losing time, we are actually gaining time. "We stand on the brink of eternity."
With this semster coming to a close and my senior year approaching, I cannot belive how fast time has flown by. I find myself wishing for a way to make time slow down a little. I think I just found my answer.
So I rolled down the windows and let the warm spring air mess up my hair. I turned the radio up extra loud and joined creation in singing a worship song. I felt the leathery steering wheel turn smoothly in my palms. I leaned back into my seat and let all my thoughts about what needed to happen in the next four hours ease away. I thought about nothing but that very moment and the joy that I found in the sunshine, the breeze, and the music. Time slowed as I thanked God for the moment, and I worshipped.
It is 4:56. I can be back to my room by exactly 5:00. I have that meeting at 6:00, but I bet I can finish my paper by 5:30. Next I will check my email, then I will run to the library to print my paperwork, and then...
I stopped in the middle of my thoughts. The line of planning halted and crashed just like what happens when someone at the front of a moving line stops abruptly when no one else is paying attention. It creates a domino effect of crashing and bumping.
I remembered what I had read recently in One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp: "Thanksgiving makes time."
I had just finished reading a chapter in which she wrote about Jesus feeding the five thousand. When Jesus held the five loaves and two fishes in his hand, he gave thanks. "When he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people." (Matthew 15:36) Voskamp pointed out that thanksgiving always precedes the miracle. It was thankfulness that turned not enough into more than enough.
It's the same with time. When we live in the moment, forgetting what is behind and what is ahead, we are truly free to be thankful for every moment. We begin to notice the thousand shades of lime green in the springtime, the crawling caterpillar on the sidewalk, and the ringing laughter of a friend. On the road to Emmaus, the disciples only noticed who Jesus was when they slowed down and stopped walking. If we slowed down and embraced every moment fully, how much more would we see and recognize the presence of Jesus?
Thanksgiving makes time. Thankfulness turns not enough time into more than enough time. Slowing down and living in the moment enables us to recognize the fullness of the presence of Jesus. Voskamp writes that instead of losing time, we are actually gaining time. "We stand on the brink of eternity."
With this semster coming to a close and my senior year approaching, I cannot belive how fast time has flown by. I find myself wishing for a way to make time slow down a little. I think I just found my answer.
So I rolled down the windows and let the warm spring air mess up my hair. I turned the radio up extra loud and joined creation in singing a worship song. I felt the leathery steering wheel turn smoothly in my palms. I leaned back into my seat and let all my thoughts about what needed to happen in the next four hours ease away. I thought about nothing but that very moment and the joy that I found in the sunshine, the breeze, and the music. Time slowed as I thanked God for the moment, and I worshipped.
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