Hurry, Wait, and Wonder (Part I)

Categories:Spiritual Growth

Every Friday I wonder how I am going to get all three of us where we need to be by 8:15. Campbell and I need to be dressed and out the door by 7:00; I drive her to school and immediately drive back home to collect Carson and head out the door again by 7:45, and somehow we make it. Every time.  I think it is a special anointing of efficiency that I rarely experience in my life.

I do not hurry well.

I am slow and inefficient and I am not a multi-tasker. So when my life demands that I hurry, I turn into a freakin’ maniac. When I hurry, I spill a gallon of milk on the kitchen floor. I iron wrinkles into my clothes. I forget to shave my legs before a pedicure (gross). I lock my one year-old in the driver’s seat of my truck while it’s running (true story). I make 84 trips through my kitchen trying to get all three of us into the car. I forget to make a potty stop before we leave and then I’m uncomfortable and angry. I get hot and sweaty and feel like I am completely coming out of my skin, and I teach my girls that it’s totally normal to run around like a ravin’ lunatic, screaming at people because I didn’t plan accordingly. And, as an English teacher, I never realized that hurry has more than one meaning; but as a mama I realize that it doesn’t mean the same thing to my children that it does to me.

And it feels like I’ve been hurrying a lot lately.

I once read part of a book (only rigorous honesty here :)) entitled Breathe by Keri Wyatt Kent that speaks to the ills of hurry…

  • “… hurry becomes a barrier to deeper connection with God.”
  • “Eliminating hurry from your life will reduce your stress level and begin to open up some space for God in your life.”
  • We need to “ruthlessly eliminate hurry” from our lives.
  • “Spiritual growth comes from listening to God and responding to Him in ways we might not have planned ahead of time.”

True stuff. I am not sensitive to God when I am in a hurry. I usually don’t acknowledge His presence. I don’t listen for His voice, and I surely don’t brake for any opportunities He may try to throw in my path as I speed by. I swallow a few choice words and quiet the less-than-edifying thoughts swirling in my head and think that I was moderately successful at fronting a “righteous” response to the crazy circumstances of my life.

So, I have not finished reading this book even though I’ve had it for like years (see how ruthlessly I’m eliminating hurry from my life 🙂 ). But my big take-away was the reality that I can change my day and that of my children if I plan accordingly. If I start trying to get us in the car at least twenty minutes before we actually need to leave. Is that a lofty plan? Yes. Will it be difficult? Yes, yes, yes! But I have tried this, and the results were immediate (both physical and spiritual).

I am no guru, and I’ve got a long way to go to eliminate hurry from my life. But when I sit right here before this screen and you and acknowledge the effect hurry has on my relationship with my Father and my children, I want to do better (in a hurry 🙂 )…

What is your best tip for eliminating hurry?  Help a sister out here…

Hurry, Wait, and Wonder (Part II)
I got people.

4 Comments

  1. Chris
    Chris
    January 14, 2015 at 8:04 pm

    The best book I have ever read is Soul Keeping! Its premise is in order to grow spiritually and be healthy all around we most ruthlessly eradicate..HURRY from our lives at all costs.

    My to do list at one time was pages long and I loved checking off as many items as possible. I now focus more on getting one major item done each day.

  2. Lindsay
    Lindsay
    January 14, 2015 at 9:50 pm

    Love this post!! For me, it’s about setting reasonable expectations. That was a big key in eliminating hurry for me. I’m an overachiever by nature, so I have to fight the urge to overcommit. And I also stopped working at night. Now when the kids go to bed, I usually stop. Dishes, laundry, computer stuff… I just let it wait. That time has become great for recharging my soul.

  3. Melanie
    Melanie
    January 21, 2015 at 12:11 am

    Not over-committing myself. Trying to keep a basic routine helps a TON. Learning the 2-letter word NO has been a game-changer for me.

  4. Cookie Cawthon
    January 21, 2015 at 9:31 am

    Soul Keeping is the absolute best book on this topic, in my opinion, and rest and a refusal to overcommit are vital to really cutting the scurry from the day. Love hearing your insights; thanks for sharing!