This past year God has led our family to reassess our many commitments in order to redefine what normal should look like for our family. Alan was offered an eldership position at our church, and after much prayer he decided to turn it down. He felt (and I agreed) that he already had a full plate, and that this was a season for him to focus on his family. I, too, spent time in prayer about my commitments and as a result stepped out of the homeschool ministry leadership, a role I have relished for the past few years.
We also cut back on some of the kids' extracurricular activities. Surprisingly, the kids didn't complain. They have more time to read, play, dream. While the activities were good, the amount of time we were spending in the car going to and from events wasn't worth the toll it was taking on our family. As it's been said, the good is often the enemy of the best. Sometimes the best isn't about running around trying to find a life. Sometimes it's about living a life right where we're at.
Slowing down has been a breath of fresh air. Instead of crammed schedules, we have wide open spaces to walk. Instead of scribbles all over the calendar, we now have margin to write in. A slower pace has allowed us the freedom to respond to needs around us, such as spending time next to my dad's bedside in his last days, helping a family prepare to go to the mission field, and delivering dinner to a friend recovering from surgery.
Slowing down has been a huge blessing and paradigm shift for our family.
So when I was offered the opportunity to review the book Not So Fast: Slow-Down Solutions for Frenzied Families by Ann Kroeker, I was thrilled. Already convinced that slowing down the pace was the right idea for our family, I hoped the book would provide encouragement to continue the pursuit of simplicity. I was not disappointed.
Throughout the book Ann lays out not only the dangers of living a hurried life--missed opportunities, the inability to appreciate beauty, disconnecting from relationships, cheated childhoods, and more importantly, a shallow spiritual life--she also offers the antidote: slowing down the pace, listening to God, and treasuring the people and creation around us.
Ann cites author Mark Buchanan's discovery that the Chinese form the character for the word "busyness" by joining two pictographs: heart and killing. It's a powerful metaphor for the weary restless. Busyness kills the heart.
By contrast, Ann points us to Jesus: "He never seemed to be in a hurry."
She expounds, "When I look through the Gospels, I see that He was attentive to people's needs and deliberate about His actions. He was responsive and busy, but not frantic. he was occupied, but not frazzled"..."there's never a sense that Jesus operated in any kind of frenetic pace. He was never harried, never hectic. Jesus' actions seemed to flow from His purposeful and decisive heart, a heart that was focused on and yielded to the Father's will, obedient unto death on a cross."
Selah.
Ann encourages us, those of us who call ourselves disciples, to follow Jesus at His pace. His unhurried pace.The book goes deeper than merely talking about streamlining schedules. I pondered the insightful comments about materialism and the challenge to be content in Chapter 16: Slowing Down Spending. I chewed on making deliberate parental choices in Chapter 14: The Cost of High Tech and Chapter 17: Slowing Down Sexuality. And I contemplated what it means to embrace creativity in Chapter 18: Taking Time to Create.
I appreciated the two extra treats at the end of every chapter. One, a section titled Slow Notes, offers a number of practical ideas for people wanting guidance on how to slow down. I was encouraged to see that our family practiced some of the suggested activities, such as going for nature walks, keeping journals, creating family traditions, reading aloud together, and copying (she calls it "scribing") Scripture. There were many other wonderful ideas that sang to my heart, and I can't wait to incorporate them into our family times.
The second treat is a section titled From the Slow Zone, featuring inspiring anecdotes from other families who have chosen to step out of the cultural rat race and take the time to live in the slow lane. The contributors' blogs are listed in the resource section where readers may discover more insights.
I own many books on time management. They all talk about strategies for squeezing more into each hour of the day. We're told how to accomplish more, better, faster. Not So Fast is the antithesis to the typical time management book. Instead of urging us to do more, it asks us to consider doing less. Instead of rushing, we are challenged to wait. Instead of focusing on the trivial, we are encouraged to design our lives around the things that truly matter.
I commend to you this great read as we begin with fresh calendars for the new year.
"See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Ephesians 5:15-16
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