Ever felt like your life is flying by so fast that everything’s a blur and you can’t remember what you did two hours ago, let alone two days ago?  When your days are stuck in fast forward and you’re trying to pack more and more in like a suitcase you simply MUST sit on to get it zipped?

Time to unpack.  Time to unwind.  Time to shut down, shut off, sit down, sit up and take notice of how overwhelmed you are by grace?

Yeah. Take a deep breath . . .

That’s what I did yesterday after running like crazy trying to be hostess-with-the-mostess to my dad and stepmom visiting from Arizona for a week while needing to turn a Sunday school classroom into an Olympic arena for the sixteen four year-olds I would be teaching the next week—which is this week—which has been wonderful, though exhausting for this just-turned 57 year-old (yesterday!).

Whew!

And on top of it all, our youngest just got that job I’ve been praying for at PetSmart because it’s much closer to our house than his other job and yours truly and her husband still drive him everywhere while waiting on that next answered prayer of a passed exam so he, at 18, can get his temps and then a license.

Double whew!

So sit down, I tell myself.  Look around, I tell myself.  Take a breath, I tell myself.

And give thanks for God’s overwhelming blessings.

I can’t even keep up!

There’s all the answered prayers.  And answered prayers I don’t even know have been answered.

There’s all of God’s working behind the scenes where we can’t see and it’s all good in the end because He’s all good always.

There’s the glimpses of His glory all around for the seeing, the tasting, the touching, the smelling, the hearing.

There’s all the hugging and laughter and unexpected surprises.

Like the birthday cards I received yesterday. Like all the sentiments expressed. Made me realize it might be a good thing for me to treat every day like it’s someone’s birthday and tell them how much I love them—how much I appreciate them. And maybe even take a risk to reach out and offer a hug after angry words fly and hearts break, wondering where in the world such primal pain comes from in the first place.

Takes a breaking of pride to heal the wounded, doesn’t it, Soul?  But you know, Soul, it’s so worth it in the end . . .

The way of the world is fast and furious and self-centered and ridiculously rude.

But the way of the cross is slow and loving and other-centered and miraculously merciful.

In our days, when we’re underwhelmed by some others and even ourselves, might we take the time to be overwhelmed by God’s goodness all around and in each other?

I say yes.

Soul, sit down and take a breath. Let yourself be overwhelmed by grace.