Click here to read: Stages of motherhood - a Mother's Day blog post by Val Harrison, The Practically Speaking MOM
The Year the World Paused...
Life was flying by at maximum speed.
Parents, often working and worrying, missed out on discovering the deep hearts of their children. Some siblings knew their peers, but not each other. And often artificial masks were worn to reduce vulnerability and hide true selves.
Datebooks and calendars and schedules were the driving force of pressure, fitting in more and more and more until TIME was bursting at the seams.
Most people rode a vast merry-go-round of life, bobbing up and down while the music played, scurrying everywhere and nowhere all at once.
Most were consumed with excelling at everything from education to sports to career to appearances, seeking accolades of all kinds while also consumed with entertaining themselves at theaters and stadiums and restaurants and amusement parks.
And so, performers performed and consumers consumed on the great merry-go-round, speeding quickly everywhere and no where all at once.
Many. people. could. fit. no. more. into. their. busy. lives.
Then Suddenly a great pause button was pushed, and everything shut down.
The merry-go-round of life stopped turning.
Performers stopped performing and consumers stopped consuming.
Everyone got down off the merry-go-round and walked to their homes. They looked at their family members, some wearing masks of illusion, and said, “I barely know you. How will I spend time with you?”
For the first time in a very long time, or ever, people looked at their homes and yards and families and asked, “Shall we use the kitchen for cooking?” “Shall we use the table for eating and table-gaming?” “Shall we use the living room for living with one another?” “Shall we read the books that sit on our shelves?” “Shall we use the yard for playing and planting and growing?”
And before our very eyes, because the world pushed the pause button, families came back to life for the first time in a long time. Or the first time in forever.
In the homes, books were opened, games were enjoyed, dances were danced and playing was played. Family chatting turned into family bonding and bonding turned into joy together. And families began family-ing for the first time in a very long time, or the first time in forever.
The masks of illusion that used to be on faces, were placed in laps for their family had become their friends.
And the people only wore masks in public, and they were real masks.
Many parents began DISCOVERING the deep, beautiful, complex hearts of their children, and all reflected on their own hearts before their Creator as they considered the meaning of life, the meaning of their days, and the meaning of their souls.
Now, the question is, “When the pause button is pushed once again and the world begins spinning once more, when people walk back to the world and look up at that giant merry-go-round, HOW will the people ride? Will they ride the way they always did? Will it be never-ending and ever speeding up again? Or, will people make an effort to ride slower and even step off more frequently to walk back into their homes to see their most precious of all of their friends, sit at the tables to eat and play games, live in the living rooms to talk and to read and to review each others’ hearts? Will they step into their yards to plant and play, to grow and bond, and continue family-ing? Will they remember their Creator? Will they remember the meaning of life? Will they remember their souls?”
Or will we waste the pause?
A few areas of life to examine, thanks to the pause:
Margin & Having enough time to just be Present at Home- Do you schedule your family's life so full that there's no time to just be together - relaxing and praying and talking and thinking...
Being in Community with our Neighbors - So many of our family activities take us away from our neighborhoods. Maybe it's time to rearrange where we do our family time - reconnect with our neighbors and give our kids more of a small-town experience within our neighborhood.
Front Porch Living - For most of us, this has been non-existent the last few decades. Is it time to bring back the Front Porch Lifestyle? Invite friends to stop by for a glass of lemonade and let the kids play on the lawn. Tell the neighbors you'll be serving watermelon or rootbeer floats at 7pm Friday night. Sit on the porchswing to listen to the birds and meditate on God's word to gain perspective on the complexities of your life.
Priorities - We've put a lot of priority in accomplishment and achievement and filling up our days with big experiences. Is it time we change those priorities?
Nature - God's creation is healing for our souls and bodies. Perhaps we need more time for nature-ing...
There's no doubt about it, maintaining a slower-paced lifestyle will require intentional determination with clear goals. I'm thinking that family-ing is worth the effort. What do you think?
Resources Mentioned in episode 34 Link to Life in the Mundane 10 Games to Play on Zoom/Video Chat Link to Life in the Mundane Finding the Good in Covid-19
Meet Val Harrison, The Practically Speaking MOM: I’m a mom of seven (five are grown now). I now have a ministry to inspire Intentional Moms to build Strong Families.
My podcast and blog and events are for ALL MOMs.. I seek to encourage and equip intentional moms to know that “Your family, even with all of its unique personalities, imperfections, and scars, is God’s Masterpiece in the Making.”
Visit my *blog *podcast *store at www.PracticallySpeakingMOM.com
Join my private Facebook group Intentional Mom, Strong Family www.facebook.com/groups/1467972243355843/
Here’s a link to this week’s podcast: https://www.practicallyspeakingmom.com/podcast/episode/4991abbc/the-year-the-world-paused-plus-a-new-view-of-mothers-day-episode-34