Don't Drive So Fast That You Miss The View. Slow Down And Take Time To Capture The Moment.

I spent today in the area that has the 4th largest population of Amish families I believe in the United States. Can you guess where that is? It is Middlefield, Ohio. I was on a journey today. I had an appointment in Burton first. When I arrived, the person that I had the scheduled meeting with brought her two children to work. They were toddlers and I don't think they wanted Mommy's attention given to me quite at that moment. I asked if it was OK to read a book to them. She said it was and I sat in a rocking chair and began to read the book out loud. The one little girl didn't want me to hold the book and read at the same time, so I adapted and let her hold the book while I read it. I enjoyed myself immensely as I read to the girls. I forgot how much fun it is to read to children since mine are grown and almost grown. If you have children take the time to read to them. That is the best gift you can ever give to them. We read to our children a lot and they received many gifts from family in the form of books when they were younger. There is even a favorite one of mine that if we remember we read it at Christmas time The Littlest Angel. Even though the children are older now it still brings tears to my eyes when I do read it. Read to your children, through a book you can take them on an adventure. When they start out young reading you will see that they will remain avid readers.
Onto my next appointment. At this appointment the presence of the Lord was very real. I had the opportunity to not only share my presentation with them I also had the opportunity to share a bit of my experiences with them also. As I left this place one person that was in the meeting told me that I was an ambassador for the Lord with where my daily journey takes me. That was a welcome word of encouragement for me.
As I was driving on this beautiful day with all of the farm land surrounding me and the gentle and slower pace of a buggy drawn by horses periodically coming across my path I began to think...
In my lifetime I have had the privilege of owning a Dodge Stealth and a Chrysler 300M. In both cars they had great pick up speed and I would always remember my Fathers words when I started to drive. He would always correct me to pick up speed when entering a highway. Each time I entered onto a highway I would remind myself that both of those cars had great pick up all I had to do was press on the gas pedal and there I would go.
Today I was reminded of something so simple yet profound. How we are always in such a hurry to get somewhere and we don't take the time to enjoy the scenery around us. Don't take it for granted. As I would see an Amish family in their buggy I realized they don't probably worry about having to get gasoline. They probably plan their day much more efficiently because they can't just hop into a car and go. They have to prepare the buggy and harness the horses to it. I saw children raking the leaves and also playing in the leaves. Laundry on clothes lines and young and old walking to and from their destinations. Maybe we should all take an example from this community and let some of our gadgets go and go back to the simpler way of life in some respects of our lives. I don't know why I share these things, I can only describe it as the ideas that come to me to use myself and others to think about things and life. Have peace this evening and take the time to do something fun with your children this weekend. Turn off the television and turn on some classical music or soft worship music and pick up a book and either you read or read to your children. When you do that you are creating a memory for them. Nothing that can be bought in a store just a loving moment between a parent(s) and their children. Take the time now to invest in your children because the next thing you know...you turn around and then they are all grown up.