Take Time

"Oh, I'm so tired, but there's much more to do, so I have to keep going..."   I pushed aside my feelings and pressed forward with new resolve as I worked through the stack of projects that had somehow  accumulated between last Friday and Tuesday morning.  How it had all piled up for this particular week was a mystery.   As I thought of more and more details and made another list of to-dos, I could feel myself growing tighter and tighter and trying to whiz from one thing to the next.

By mid-morning I felt like I had run 20 miles, so I decided to take a break by retrieving the mail.  With my mind already on the next thing needing to be done before I had even completed my current task, I raced down the stairs and hurriedly walked down the lane.  It was a gorgeous spring day.  The warm temperatures and sunny skies fitting for this time of year had finally arrived.  Everything seemed to be shouting that winter was gone and new life here.  Birds were happily singing.  The hardened ground was showing signs of new growth.  The blue skies beckoned for one to bask in its warmth.

But as for myself, I was in a thick fog, completely unaware of my surroundings.  I was intent on getting back to the day's demands.  There was no time to waste as my feet flew across the pavement.  I had to keep going.

As I blazed a trail down to the church mailbox with my mind on getting back to my desk and wondering why there wasn't more time in the day, I abruptly stopped - dead in my tracks.  Something caught my attention and as I turned my head to take a brief look, another part of me came alive and said, "That's beautiful.  You need to stop and take a picture." 

And suddenly I lost all momentum and found myself turning my steps off the beaten path to to take a closer look at what had gripped my attention:  brightly colored tulips.  Yes, tulips.  So small and unimportant in comparison to the rest of creation around them, but yet so very beautiful. 

After snapping a few pictures with my phone, I looked up with new eyes and finally saw what I had been missing.  The warmth of the sun on my skin, the vivid greenness of the grass under my feet, the cheery birds above, and the blossoming trees all around me - it was gorgeous, a most wonderful gift from the Creator Himself.

I didn't want to leave this picture of perfection, but as I slowly made my way down to retrieve the mail, I continued to take it all in, enjoying my surroundings.  And I noticed something profound:  a new energy filled my entire being.   I went back to my office ready to face the "mountain" with a heart that was singing.

In the midst of pressures and responsibilities, do I take time to enjoy what God has created?  The world around me attests to the glory and majesty of God.  I need to learn to stop, ponder His handiwork, and thank Him for what He has given me.