Spending any amount of time in Creation makes it difficult not give thanks to the One who created it.
Sunday was a yucky day here by all accounts. It rained all day long. It was cold and dreary and there were even some tornadoes in the area. Monday started off dreary as well. But, then suddenly, the clouds parted and the sun came out and it was beautiful. I felt drawn to go and take a walk, which is a good thing because I hadn’t done cardio in over a week.
I’m definitely a walker, not a runner. I run between mailboxes to get my heart rate up, but I walk more than run. My exercise time has become as much a spiritual time for me as physical. I pray when I walk as I bask in God’s Creation. It’s very difficult not to be thankful when I feel the warm sun on my face or a cool breeze when I’m hot, or when I see the leaves changing colors and birds searching for worms on the ground. Creation always makes me thankful and it leaves me in awe.
If I were to run instead of walk, I would miss it. If I were to listen to music in my ipod, I would miss it. My hubby has one of those Fitbits. It counts his steps and tells him how quickly he ran a mile. People take to Facebook and record their times. There are even apps where people can compete with each other on how fast they ran and how much ground they covered. I can’t imagine why.
We love to compete. It seems to be somehow wired within us. We can’t exercise for pleasure. There has to be a winner. But, I don’t think that’s God’s way. I think we are supposed to stay fit. Our bodies are a temple. I think friendly competition is no big deal and running races for fun is fine. But, if every time we leave our house to exercise, we are trying to beat our last time or someone else’s doing that activity, I think we may have missed an opportunity to worship.
We are busy people. I often hear people say they don’t have time to read the Bible or they don’t have time to pray or to exercise. But, there is a way to combine some of those things. I feel like whenever we are outside, it’s a perfect time to talk to God and to listen for His voice. Maybe if we aren’t in such a rush, we may learn something or see Him in an unexpected way.
While I was walking on Monday, my neighbor from across the street, pulled over and chatted with me for a few minutes about Thanksgiving. Every conversation with her is a blessing. She is a light to me and my family. After the brief stop, she wished me a Happy Thanksgiving and drove away. She might not have stopped if I had been running. I’m glad she did.
When we slow down a little, not only do we see and hear things we might have missed otherwise, but we encourage others to seek us out and share. We encourage interaction and contact. We get the opportunity to let our light shine and allow others to shine theirs.
As this season gets ready to really get cranked up into turbo speed, I think it my be worth it to intentionally take some time to slow down. We may be surprised at what we learn.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂