Slowing Down Number One

This morning at my parents' church, I was thrilled to see a friend from Texas, a choir director from our Dallas church who was visiting her kids in Georgia.  We see her and her husband about twice a year when they visit Old Peachtree around the holidays, but this visit was different.  Having planned to be on the road back to Dallas by now, she remained in Georgia to be with her daughter-in-law who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer right after giving birth to her third child.  Over lunch, she described how chemotherapy gets harder with each treatment and how difficult it must be for her independent daughter-in-law to accept help that she's never really needed until now.  What struck me the most was her observation of how we think of people in her situation occasionally, every now and then, and compartmentalize them into a mental box; but for her daughter-in-law, cancer is a 24/7 reality.  I had heard this idea before, but tonight I watched a TED Talk on the benefits slowing down your life, and after the conversation with my friend, I began to think about two things: how difficult it is to keep in touch with people we don't see often, and how incredibly self-centered I've become in the last few years.

On TED, Carl Honore makes the assertion that all areas of our life can improve if we slow down, and believe it or not, it is possible to do so.  I believe this wholeheartedly, but I also have a hard time slowing down when my generation is one of instant gratification and I usually want to do everything all at once.  This fall, when my lifestyle changed so dramatically after transferring to SCAD, even though there were times when I didn't know what to do with myself, some of my close friends commented on the difference they saw in me after I slowed down.  A few days ago, I slept over with a friend I hadn't seen much since the summer, and two of her observations were "you have a lot more energy now" and "you've gotten louder."  Hah!  Anyway, one of the things I want to do with my newfound breathing time is to communicate better with the people who I don't get to see on a regular basis.  I have been blessed with an extraordinary number of incredible people whose interest in my life makes it so much better, and whenever I take the time to send an update email or blog, I am overwhelmed by the number of sweet responses.  I am reminded that there are people whom I hardly ever see who are genuinely interested in my life, and that means the world to me.  I can't stress enough the importance of reaching out to people, even people who may seem more distant than they once were, and I know that I wouldn't be who I am today without their support and encouragement.  The friend I had lunch with is one of these people, and I know her daughter-in-law feels the same way about those who take interest in her life.

Since I moved to Georgia when I was sixteen, I have often felt like the baby bird who is kicked out of the nest and told, "Fly."  I have been in countless vulnerable situations and had to make the most of where God put me.  But somewhere along the way, I got so wrapped up in trying to figure out what I'm going to do next that I forgot how to think of others before myself.  I've been looking out for Number One for so long that I've become blind to people like this daughter-in-law who has to deal with a pain that I've never known every waking minute of her day.  Now that I'm settled in a somewhat familiar environment, I pray that God will make me someone who thinks about others more than just "now and then," and that I learn to make the most out of the healthy, widely supported, comparatively easy life He's given me.

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