Unrush Me

If I were to tell you about my day it would be something like, wake up at 5am, rush to get my husband out the door for work, rush to get myself ready, have my quiet time with God, rush to get the kids up and ready, rush to get our homeschool started, keep up on the housework and laundry, and taking care of the kids. Then rush to get dinner on the table, get showers done and get to bed on time. Throw in weekly music lessons that we rush to, monthly orthodontist appointments, six month checkups for one child at one doctor and six month checkups for another child at a different doctor. Then, depending on what season it is, rushing to yearbook meetings, and baseball, volleyball or basketball practices and games. Rush, rush, rush.

If I were to ask you about your day, you’d have a very similar story. We are all busy women. No matter what season of life you are in, you are busy. I’ve come to realize that the busyness doesn’t stop with each new season; you just get busy with something different. When we fall into bed at night, we are exhausted yet we lie awake thinking over our day and working through our tomorrows.

Everywhere we look, we see people rushing around. Hurrying in everything that they do.

I remember when my kids were little, bedtime was my favorite time of day. Not because they were going to bed and now the house would be quiet. No, it was because I loved the slow moments of snuggles, stories, smelling their clean hair and the I love yous. Now, I find myself telling the kids to hurry and get in bed. I rush to their room and literally find myself saying, “Hurry and get to bed,” as I kiss them goodnight.

God, unrush me.

My kids are not morning people at all. Very much like me. So to wake them up in the morning, I slowly and quietly begin to turn lights on and talk softly to them as I get myself ready. But after about an hour of this slow routine, I glance at the clock and begin to panic as I see that we are running behind. I start shouting, “Hurry! Get up and get ready now!” Instead of our day starting with sleepy smiles and soft words, we have now escalated to a rushed, sometimes angry morning.

God, unrush me.

My husband and I get to church at 8:30 on Sunday mornings and we spend the next hour and a half rushing to make sure all those final things are ready for kid’s church. We walk past people, smile and say, “Hi,” as we rush to the next task needing our attention. Most weeks we leave church and one of us will say, “Was so and so there today, I didn’t see them?” The answer always comes, “I’m not sure, I was so busy that I didn’t get a chance to see or talk to anyone.” Or we are so busy rushing around that we miss when someone at church really wants to talk or needs some encouragement and prayer.

God, unrush me.

We have time alone with our husband, but we rush it. We have time with a friend, we rush it. We have time with a relative or neighbor, but we rush it. We rush from place to place. We are always rushing. I honestly think I say the phrase, “Hurry up!” at least a dozen times a day.

What about this one? We have our quiet time with God and we rush through the moments of Bible reading and prayer because we just have so much to do. We talk to God but don’t pause to listen because the laundry needs our attention. We lift our needs to God but don’t take time to thank Him because we have to get to work or get the kids to school or start the next project.

God, unrush me.

This is about more than “stopping to smell the roses.” This is about living intentionally. It’s about people. It’s about our time with God. It’s about slowing down and really living life to the fullest.

It’s time to stop rushing and enjoy the moments God has gifted to us. It’s time to slow down and spend those moments with our loved ones. To really look at those around us who are hurting or just need someone to talk to. It’s time to do more than quickly read the Bible and to actually study it and spend some real time with God. It is time we reevaluate our priorities. It’s time to delegate where we can. Time to say no to things and people when necessary.

God, unrush us.

Linking with:
Woman to Woman's Word Filled Wednesday