Slow Your Roll

Sheri Wohlfert prays that we'll slow down enough so that we won't miss the opportunity to love God through serving others.

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! (Psalm 27:14) 

Dave and I were watching a movie and one of the characters was an Amish woman. She was giving a rather worldly woman a ride in her buggy. The fancy lady was complaining about how slow they were going and the Amish lady said, “One of the secrets to life is realizing that just because you get somewhere fast or do something quickly, it doesn’t add any extra time to your life.” So much truth, probably for all of us. 

Jesus was pretty clear that our mission on earth is to get to heaven and that is done by serving others. Perhaps the greatest danger of being in a hurry is feeling like we don’t have time to serve. We are busy folks and there is laundry and meals and cleaning and all the stuff that causes the days to go by in a blur. Since I heard that wise little TV Amish lady speak her truth, it’s been heavy on my heart and in his fanciness he hammered the lesson home. 

We have a lovely newlywed daughter and she and her fabulous groom moved from Michigan to St. Louis MO where she works as an oncology nurse. She’s busy learning her way around a big city, a big hospital, a new marriage, and navigating her way through all things new. Anyone who knows Shannon, knows she goes all in … heart first … and she does it in fast motion.

Knowing that she’s in the middle of lots of things that are new, my prayer for her the last couple of weeks has been, “Father, help her slow down and see the people you put in her path and show her what they need.” Nobody knew that I was praying those words several times a day except me -- and the Father who loves us both like crazy. 

A couple of days ago I got a text from Shannon in the middle of the day that said, “Awesome God moment today!” She was discharging a patient and after she wheeled him to the parking ramp to get in his car and go home, she turned with the wheelchair to return to her floor. She glanced over her shoulder and noticed an elderly lady having a really difficult time walking and making her way into the hospital. Shannon told her she’d be happy to give her a ride to whatever part of the hospital she needed to go to. As they were wheeling along, the lady shared that her son was very sick. Shannon took her where she needed to go and found out later that day that the son had died very shortly after the mom got there. Her story made me cry, thinking about how sad it would have been if that mother had missed her chance to share those last minutes with her son. God truly does put us just where He needs us at precisely the right time. 

Do we slow down enough to see who God is putting in our path, or are we too busy with our to-do list? #catholicmom

I’m so glad God helped Shannon notice. I’m so glad He gave her that great feeling of being part of His plan and serving. God chooses to use our gifts and our talents and our time in ways we can’t even imagine or predict. I suppose the question is … do we let Him? Do we slow down enough to see who He’s putting in our path, or are we too busy with our to-do list? I think the Amish lady in the buggy had time to look around. I wonder what I’d see if I slowed down enough to look over my shoulder more often. Maybe we should all give that a try.

A Seed To Plant:

Each morning for the next few days pray these words; “Father, help me slow down and see the people you put in my path and show me what they need.”

Blessings on your day!

Copyright 2021 Sheri Wohlfert
Image: Pixabay (2014)