Slow Down

Recently my sweet son (the one who just yesterday babbled nonsense as he toddled around) said something to the effect of, “when I’m grown up I will…” and I say, “don’t wish your childhood away, it will come soon enough.” Then I catch myself in the next breath muttering, “Lord, January has been the longest year!”  And then it is God chuckling at me and prompting, “don’t wish your life away.”  Perhaps God intends January as a soft launch into the year, allowing a little extra time to meet the annual goals we begin with fits and starts (maybe that is just me).  I’ve noticed the last beams of sun linger on the horizon a tad longer each day.  Bird songs seem to trill in the air with greater weight as they hit each note. “Slow down,” the Creator seems to chide, “slow down.”  Easter will be here in a blink, hazy days of summer will tumble by, then at breakneck speed we’ll fly through fallen leaves and thankful feasts and collapse beneath a Christmas tree once again.  Who knows what highs and lows we’ll meet in twelve months’ time. It marches on like a drumbeat…. But I wonder too, what will we miss?  What will we miss when we are complaining that the minutes seem like hours and the hours seem like days? Or worse, when we complain that there is never enough time?  What blooms will wilt as we hurry by? What stars will streak across the sky? Slow down.  Slow down.