The Simple Pursuit Mama

He has made everything beautiful in its time.

 Ecclesiastes 3:11

The first wave of slowness always brings me such comfort. The rapid pace of the summer garden and early autumn can certainly burn me out. November feels like a breath of fresh air when the pace of life starts to calm. Though the holidays are coming I find the lul in between halloween and thanksgiving so refreshing. As much as I love Christmas, I’m not a decorate early girlie. The routine of my childhood home embraced the last bits of autumn color and allowed the anticipation of christmas to build until after.. The Game (if you live in Ohio or Michigan, you know). This, at the time, I was not a fan of. I was always ready for Christmas of course, but also forever looking to the next season. Scripture stresses to us many times the value of timing. One of my favorite verses on this is in Ecclesiastes, “He has made everything beautiful in its time”. He made things beautiful… not just made it happen, not just made it good enough, He made everything beautiful in its own time. It also notes in its own time… not rushed or too late, everything in its perfect timing. Everything on this earth has been made beautiful because timing is so important. Now, don’t hear me say you can’t decorate for Christmas early! But do hear me say that a slowed pace, savoring instead of rushing, should not be something lost. It is so good for the soul; it soothes and calms the parts of your mind that are running on anxiety and stress. Always looking towards the next season just burnt me out. I’m far from perfecting a slow way of life, and in some seasons, that’s just not realistic, but taking advantage of the built-in slow seasons has made more of a difference than I ever thought it would. 

So, how do we go about slowing our lives in a world of constant movement? The single rule of thumb that has helped me immensely is looking towards how God operated himself, and how he created nature to operate. In Genesis, we see God rest after creating for 6 days. So, my family and I try our best to take one of our weekend days and intentionally rest. In nature, we see four main seasons each year. Spring and summer all of nature is bursting with life and fruit and production, but in fall and winter we see it take a break. If you look at your own life, especially if you have your own garden, spring and summer tend to be so busy. There is so much to do, both work and play! Fall can still be a bit busy at first, but the garden and its fruit slows down; there’s less to harvest, the weeds aren’t quite as aggressive as they were in July. Late fall and winter, especially in the north, both plants and animals slow almost to a complete stop. Yet, people tend to keep the summer pace. The norm doesn’t always mean the healthiest. So what would happen if we tried, even in small ways, to mimic the way God designed the trees and bears in this way? What if you took time to learn to cook from scratch? What if your new cooking skills ended up saving you time and money by eating around your table instead of running for take-out?  What if you taught yourself to knit and that new skill created space for you to then teach your child? What if that one skill not only slowed your pace but created space for better time and deeper connection? How rich would our homes be if just for a season we slowed our pace for the sake of our souls? I’d like to think that the riches would be more abundant than we could ask or think. 

Though I was tempted this season to decorate my home for Christmas early, I think instead I will savor the leaf garland Juniper made. I think I’ll do a title fall cleaning to set myself up for the coming christmas season. I think I’ll roast a few pumpkins for puree and bake an extra pie. I think I’ll pull out the quilts and extra blankets, but I’ll wait on the tree. I’ll teach my daughter to savor these last few days before the christmas season. I’ll teach her that even her heavenly father rested in due time. And I hope you do too.

Cheers, my friend, until next time,

Erin