And for 50 minutes Life Slowed Down...

I confess that I am far too attached & tethered to the screen.
The struggle is real & we use screen-free days & family togetherness to combat it.  My concern is complicated & contains multiple layers and I am often preoccupied with thinking about how to make small changes & improvements while at the same time I have an awareness that I am the first to resort to the screen for down time. 

Life with an almost-teen and a teen is much different than life with younger children- as it should be!  They are following the needed & healthy path toward independent lives.

The combination of the availability & desire for screens, plus all that comes with having 'older' children, plus our life change of sending the kids to school & me working:  It changes our family life. 

However, this morning, for 50 glorious minutes, life slowed down.
It happened naturally, which is far more fulfilling than when it is orchestrated! 

Today is a snow day!  For Micah anyway.  After taking Noelle to school I had a bit of down time on the couch, you guessed it- watching some TV.  Kevin was on the other couch having his devotions. 

Micah woke up at 8:30 & was excited to have a snow day!! 
I immediately turned off the TV.  I gave him a surprise- Snow Day Cotton Candy that I had been saving for such a day as this.  He made himself a hot drink, sat on the couch opposite me, pulled the blanket up & looked at the window. 

We talked about snow days & the snow & how his leg hurt & where he wants to build a treehouse someday & how he likes his coffee & how he thinks he is getting even taller.  

We enjoyed the quiet & the falling snow & the warmth of our hot drinks.  We laughed & joked with Kevin.  

And not once did he ask for a screen or indicate, 'could we rush through this cozy time because I'd like to play Minecraft.'  

50 glorious minutes.  50 safe & secure, snuggled-up minutes.

I'm so glad I was home for them.  

I'm so glad I didn't miss them because I was tending the goats or folding the laundry or doing 100 other things that truly need to be done.

I don't know when 50 minutes like this will come again.  And even if they come again next week, they are still just as precious.  

We've got to be ready for them when they come.  And be mindfully present.  Fully experience them.  Soak them in.  And intentionally push back the impulses, thoughts & desires to too quickly move on to the next thing. 

And for 50 minutes, life slowed down...