[Written on February 10, 2010]
Going, going, going. Americans are always going. We rush from appointment to appointment, killing ourselves to meet deadlines & seemingly sucking every ounce of joy from our lives.
Ironically, we have tricked ourselves into thinking that schedules& timelines are the key to happiness. The satisfaction we receive from crossing items off to do lists or completing series of menial tasks is riveting. It has reached a point in our society where idleness, rest, or waiting have become faux pas. If you are not moving, not doing, not going, then you are somehow less valuable.
I’ve realized this is a problem. Yes, I, the girl who thrives on punctuality, day planners, & organization, am openly admitting the error in my ways. There have been numerous times this month that I find myself idle. Whether waiting for ministry contacts to assign us jobs or waiting for locals to show up at a meeting (we are still working on people showing up within 2 hours of the appointed time), we are always waiting. Even when we are doing a job, I feel we could be doing more. I have felt that if we weren’t busy, we weren’t truly serving. I wasn’t satisfied if I didn’t feel productive & I couldn’t stand waiting. But then, one day it hit me- couldn’t something good come from all this waiting. What if, while in a time of waiting, instead of becoming annoyed, I used that time to rest in God & to pray for the people around me, or to simply just look up from my personal craze & appreciate the beauty of landscapes that surround me. What if in times of waiting I can learn to just be still & through that stillness I can listen for & look for the simple things that slip through the cracks of my task oriented life.
[me standing in front of the billabong.]
It’s not easy & most certainly not the most natural way to live, but I challenge you all to take a step back from the craze & be still. Perhaps you will find that the answers you seek have been right in front of you all along, they’ve just been muted by the noise & bustle of the daily grind.
All you needed to do was wait & be still.
[number one waterfall in oenpelli. absolutely incredible. ps. steve erwin filmed croc stuff here.super cool.]
