Be Still

Time sure flies when you’re having fun, but does it have to move at lightning speed?

The past few months have been a whirlwind of activity as we move from remodeling projects to coaching T-ball to holiday weekends, gardening, cookouts with friends, family gatherings … you get the idea. No doubt your calendar looks like a barrage of to-dos, as well. It’s enough to make one go insane.

We just got back from our annual family vacation, and this time we traveled to the mountains of eastern Tennessee. If you haven’t seen them, mornings in the Smokies are a sight to behold. The fog dances over the hills and the sunlight creeps over the valleys, peeks through the trees and bursts onto the scene in brilliant color. All the while, we’re serenaded by a chorus of insects, birds and rustling leaves. It’s a powerful reminder of the amazing world in which we live. It’s also a call for us to slow things down, to throw our phones aside and just savor the precious moments of life.

In our rushing from one thing to the next, we so quickly forget to pause and enjoy the small things. Our mind is elsewhere when the kids say, “Come play with me.” A few minutes of quiet becomes hours lost online. A quiet night becomes a nap on the couch. We are literally too busy to smell the roses – or the moonflowers, an essential scent of my summer.

We weren’t made to go, go, go nonstop. Pausing awhile to capture nature’s beauty, to play with the kids, to sit and read a book, or even just to stop and sit – this is when I hear that stillsmall voice calling: Be still. That’s because, in the stillness, we find peace and rest. We feel a thousand miles apart from the day’s distress. We find our grounding.

As any parent knows, planning for a trip with two children – and cleaning up afterward – is stressful all on its own, but somewhere amidst the chaos of traveling and returning to daily life, I can’t help feeling a deeper peacefulness and a renewed sense of joy. I feel centered once again.

All I needed was to bask in the stillness.

Chris Linden Executive Editor