Slow Down

Slow moving vehicle season is almost upon us.  Tractors with plows and other implements will soon be driving between farm fields to prepare and plant. It’s not easy to be patient when you get “stuck behind” a tractor going 20 miles per hour, but when you do, you are allowing farmers to get their jobs done safely. And we thank you for slowing down.

But how do you slow down? My whole life, I have learned to work hard.  Good work ethic is a good thing, but somewhere along the way, I let work become an idol and an end in itself. I realized I was trying to do it all.  Frantically trying to keep it all together and feeling like I wasn’t doing a great job with any of it. And for what? It wasn’t about material things. It was because I derived much of my self-worth from my ability to work.

The birth of Margaret Emilyn in February of 2017 caused me to do a lot of re-evaluating. I kept hearing God whisper, “Slow Down.” In some ways, I had no choice but to comply.  In others, it was a conscious and continuous process. With a newborn in the house, I had to learn (again) to rely on others for help and hire more help with tending my crops.  I carefully looked at all the tasks that I normally completed and delegated some to others.  The perfectionist in me strained against this at first, but I soon wondered why I hadn’t done it sooner! 

I’m learning, I don’t need to work just to work.  My value isn’t in how much I can accomplish but in how much I can love.  I don’t need to seek the admiration of others by proving I can work, instead I can rest in my identity in Christ.  You will still find me hard at work, but I will focus on those things I do best, letting others use their talents to do the rest. I will teach my children how to work hard, but I will also teach them there are times to slow down.