Anita

This past week and a half I have had the chance...no the privilege to meet Karen's mother Anita. She has impressed and wowed me in so many ways in those short few days. She has offered words of wisdom and strength that only a momma of much wisdom can give. So often she utters a simple sentence that triggers much deep thinking on my part. Well this morning was not exception. As we were sitting together on the porch watching morning come into its fullest Anita was sharing her sad thoughts of going home to the cold weather and busyness of life. She then uttered this simple sentence, "here we don't have to worry about what day or time it is we just exist." She is so right. So quickly she put into words what I had been feeling since the moment I arrived. Most days I have no idea day of the week let alone what the date is. However, it is refreshing. As Americans we have gotten caught up in the fast pace world in which we live. We have learned to rely on the fast food chains, Internet shopping, and other conveniences of life to give us the time we need to do the other things that consume our lives. We constantly are checking our watches to make sure we are right on time or are following the schedules that we set for our days. However, somewhere in those busy days we lose track of what matters and the important things seem to slip away. We forget to slow down and appreciate the world around us and those that are in our world. Here things are different and it is REFRESHING! You can sit with a person and talk about the things that are on your heart for hours without worrying that you are getting behind schedule. You can go to bed at nigh without having your mind be full of the things that you have to accomplish tomorrow or that you forgot to do today. We merely exist and in that mere existence we are able to remember who granted us that existence. See it isn't until we take a step back out of our busy lives that we realize just how tiring that life can be. It takes a small step back to remind us that we were not created for that lifestyle. God didn't create us to follow busy schedules and to stress about the endless to do list we have created. He created us as simple beings. He created us to be relational.