Rushing of Seasons

This weekend Sweet Hubby and I were able to do some shopping, just the two of us. From store to store, I noticed that the Halloween stuff was on clearance, shelves were being cleared and boxes of Christmas stuff were being brought in. "Already?!?" I thought. "Halloween was yesterday and there's still another holiday in there, Thanksgiving!"

But the more I thought about it, this is pretty normal for our society. Before the garbage is collected from one holiday, we're rushing off to the next. So much rushing, so much hurry and for what? I wrote the following in my journal several weeks ago:

When I rush and hurry, trying to move past this season in favor of the next, I'm denying the gift of this season. I'm saying "This, this is not enough. This moment I'm in isn't enough to slick my thirst and what I really need is what's next"...I look at this gift offered on scarred hands, bloodied wrists and I look into the eyes of the One giving it and I spit at it, insisting that if he just loved me enough, I'd be to the next season by now. And so, impatience reveals my ingratitude...it shows that I'm still standing at the foot of the tree {of knowledge of good and evil}, tasting its fruit and insisting that the gifts right in front of me are simply not enough.

I'm challenging you, Friend. Don't rush through to the next thing. There are 25 days between now and Thanksgiving. Don't rush through them, trying to "get through Thanksgiving" so you can move on to Christmas. Here are some of the things we're doing in our home, to slowly savor the next few weeks.

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We're combining the above with this "thanks GIVING tree" from Ann Voskamp.

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I'm completing the November Joy Dare, also from Ann Voskamp.

Life doesn't have to be this rushing, never-stopping-to-breathe, chaotic movement toward nothing. We can CHOOSE to slow down, to embrace meaningful connections with the people we love and live present in this moment.  Won't you join me?