It's Okay to Go Slow

 

Against the protest of my body, I got myself up and out into the crisp air for a sunrise walk this morning.

Normally, I'm all over this and wouldn't hesitate. But the extra physicality of everything we're up to right now in selling the house has me more carefully guarding my energies.

If counting steps is any indicator, I'm way above the recommended 8,000 per day for folks my age. One day last week I logged 17,253. I'm not bragging, honest. That many steps should be considered foolish.

The weekend was full, with Church Cleaning Day on Saturday and an open house in the afternoon. Then I preached in the morning (finished the series Dandelion Faith at Highview), and another open house in the afternoon. By Sunday evening, Ken and I just basically let the TV watch us.

But this morning I felt I could do the walk, the full 4.5 km, because the bulk of the physical work is done...for now. The house is such that we are only allowed to make one hour's worth of mess in case of a showing, and we have a whole system worked out to accommodate that. For today and into this coming week we can relax a little bit. At least compared to the pace we've been setting recently.

I walked slow this morning.

Thanks to the same technology that counts my steps, I can also keep track of my pace, timing and heartrate for each kilometer along the way. I broke no records today. I even think the voice that updates me on my progress sounded a little more laid back than usual. And I'm just fine with that.

Back at my desk now, I'm reminding myself that it's okay to go slow here too. I don't usually say that to myself on a Monday. Mondays are 'go get 'em' days where the whole week lies before me in delightful anticipation of checking off as many things from the list as possible.

This week the list is short. I have the luxury of working on things that are more long range. I can pay a little more attention to what my body needs, what my own soul needs. Take slower breaths.

Wait. I think I can hear "Feeling Groovy" playing in the background.

"Groovy" probably doesn't describe how I'm feeling right now though.

More like careful.

And curious.

Waiting to see where God is taking us in all of this.

And a slow morning walk is a great time to talk to Him about it.