I love our crock pot. It’s such a great tool in the kitchen. You know, turn it on and leave it. Then miraculously everything is ready. But you have to be a planner to use a crock pot. You can’t just come home after a long day at work and throw a roast in the crock pot because it won’t be done.
If you’re not the planning type then you probably use your microwave a little more (or the speed bake function on your oven). This takes significantly less time. Pop it in, push the button and in minutes (or seconds) you’re done! Ready to eat and move on with your day. Both of these are extremely useful, but they each have their drawbacks.
I’m going to run the risk of sounding like my grandparents here, but it seems as if the world is moving faster and faster everyday. I mean it seems like just yesterday we started a new year and now it’s nearly over! Time seems to fly by and rarely do we have the ability to stop and enjoy the moment.
It feels like everything is on speed bake doesn’t it? We’re always trying to find a faster way to get home from work. We take classes on speed reading. We time just about everything to maximize efficiency.
But what would happen if we would just s – l – o – w – – d – o – w – n? (You have no idea how hard it was to type that slowly!)
Apple, Inc. just released a new update for the Apple Watch. Being a bit of an Apple junkie, I updated my watch pretty quickly. Included with the new update to the software, comes a nifty function called Breathe. Basically it’s an app on the watch that will periodically throughout the day stop you and remind you to breathe. It’s almost as if the watch wants you to slow down a bit.
Rarely do we stop and just sit. Sure we’ll turn on the television. Sure we’ll play games with the kiddos. We like to exercise. We have to work. None of these things are really bad in and of themselves. The issue is they don’t leave time for rest. Even God took a day to rest. For six days, he formed the earth and put everything in place that we know today. And it was all good. Nothing was out-of-place. But he wasn’t finished until he sat back and looked at it – until he rested.
Sometimes a microwave is kind of nice. Sometimes it’s almost necessary. But it’s just not good for you to live off of microwave meals. It’s just not healthy to rush through every aspect of life. This week slow down a bit. Leave a few minutes early so you don’t have to rush. Add 15 min blocks of down time to your schedule. Stop a few times a day to just focus on your breathing for a minute.
The third commandment (or fourth depending on how you number them) tells us to remember and celebrate the day of rest. The bible calls that day Sabbath. Really it’s a day of rest. It’s a day to sit back an enjoy the life that God has given you. Sometimes that day of rest won’t be a whole day but don’t stay in that microwave lifestyle too long. Make sure to unplug from time to time. If you’re constantly on the run, helping others, completing your tasks – then you’ll end up burned out and in a pile of depression on the floor in your livingroom.
Stop. Right now – stop! Take a deep breath in through your nose. Hold it for three seconds. Now exhale slowly through your mouth. Blow out all of the craziness that surrounds you.
It’s ok to be a crock pot. It’s ok to slow down. Sometimes going through life a little slower enables us to get the job done a little better. Take a breath. Build margin into your life. It’s ok. Life will go on if you sit down for a minute.
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