Un-wasted Time

It was Truett’s turn to read our family devotions last night after dinner. If you’ve spent any time around our house, you might have witnessed a phenomenon I like to call Truett Time. Truett’s smart. He marches to the beat of his own drum. And it’s a slow drum. Last night, in typical Truett fashion, he was taking his time flipping through the devotional book. He stopped at June 11, and giggled at the title for his birthday devotional. He made jokes, laughed, paused to look at pictures that caught his eye, and was generally taking his sweet time making his way to April 28.

Eventually, I stepped in to hurry him along, pointing out the fact that he was wasting all our time. To which Maren replied, “Mom, he’s not wasting our time. We’re all just enjoying being together right now.”

Sweet Maren. She was right. None of us had anywhere to go. It was a beautiful evening. Our windows were open, we’d finished a delicious dinner of grilled chicken sandwiches. (Brett and I may have impulse-bought a little charcoal grill last weekend. Yum.) And I completely overlooked the gift right in front of me. How quickly I forgot those words I had written just that morning. My focus had drifted from the sweet time with my family to getting the table cleared and moving on to the next thing.

Friends, there are times for efficiency, immediacy, and nudges along. And there are times for just enjoying being together, as my wise daughter pointed out. I’m so grateful for her words last night that served as a reorientation for me. Thanks to her, I settled into the slower end to our time together around the table. The story of Abram was read, and we all took turns recalling what we were thankful for that day while Maren wrote in our little notebook. And once again I was reminded of the sweetness that comes with slowing down.

Kate