Slow Down!!!

I'm usually a pretty easy-going guy.  I don't usually lose my cool & like to "go with the flow."  But sometimes I find myself looking to the next thing that's on my list.  I like to look forward to events that are coming up or start planning ahead for the weekend activities.  Trust me, planning is a necessity in our day & age!  But...when does it reach a point that our plans & thoughts about the future, even the very near future, get in the way of what God is trying to do in our lives?

Here's my story...
It must have been Friday morning, I was sitting at the table with the boys eating breakfast.  It was our usual routine before school.  We usually drag the gas heater into the dining room & close the 2 doors so all of the heat stays in.  I sit & have coffee while they eat breakfast & argue about the color of the milk in their cereal.  You know, the things that 6 year olds & 4 year olds do.  Anyway, I was checking emails, replying to Facebook messages, & chugging my coffee before I took the boys to school.  It was a normal morning.  My mind was racing about language class that started at 9:00, the other tutor that comes at 1:00, & the events that would take place that night on our evangelism trip to downtown.  When I realized that we were going to be late for school, I jumped up out of my seat & reached to open the door of the dining room.

I've often heard the phrase, "God opens doors for us to walk through & He will also close doors if it's not His will."  I'm sure you've heard the same thing or at least something similar.  Well, God must have slammed this one shut!  As I grabbed the door handle & swung it toward me so I could walk through, it hit one tiny part of my shoe & kicked back closed.  I didn't break stride...SMACK!!!  It hit so hard & loud that Laura came from the other room to find out what had happened.  I've always laughed at the cartoons when they get hit on the head & see stars, but I wasn't laughing after having seen them myself!  It hit just beside of my right eye between my eye & my temple.  I almost staggered to the ground, but I was able to find my chair.  The bad part was, all I could do was laugh!

God has a way of slowing us down.  I'm not the most "in-tune" person with the Spirit, so He often uses measures like these to get my attention.  But as I was in the car to & from the boys' school, I began to realize that God really was telling me to slow down.  "Take time for Me.  Take time for your family.  Take time for yourself.  Hey, moron...slow down & enjoy today!!!  By the way, sorry about the blue-ish purple-ish lump on the side of your head."     -God

It truly was a great reminder that I need to stop looking so far into the future.  I tend to miss the current & not enjoy what is happening.  It's always good to enjoy life's bumps & bruises, too.  The way I see it, it's a way to learn from my mistakes.  But sometimes...learning hurts!!!