A Slower Pace

I woke up to a beautiful, God-created day. Outside my hotel window I snapped what I thought was a very serene picture of the Hudson River with the George Washington bridge in the background. Little did I know that by waiting just a few minutes, the scene would get better and the sun would rise directly in front of me.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

While I think traveling is over-rated and I really enjoy being home with my family, the silver lining is that there are no chores, projects or distractions. That enables me to explore, wander, take time outs, ponder, and generally see things from a slower perspective that I might usually miss (because of all the aforementioned chores, projects and distractions).

Below are a few pix I took of this afternoon. An almost full moon hovering over Manhattan as the sun bathed the city in golden sunlight all viewed from across the river. The harmonious geese, ducks and waterfowl added audibles to these photos that enhanced my enjoyment of the scene.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Good morning. I am working from home while my wife continues her recovery which allows me the opportunity to capture moments like the ones below.

The moonrise was noticed while my son and I played a quick game of Frisbee after dinner. The sunrise was made fresh this morning and captured for your enjoyment.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

This morning I walked into my office and looked out the window facing east to be greeted by an amazing colored sky of pinks, magentas and reds. I poked my head into the office next to me to mention it to a co-worker friend who also looked in amazement at the sky God had painted for us. I completed my arrival routine — docking my laptop, putting my lunch into my mini-fridge and saying a morning arrival prayer — and then grabbed a camera to go out back to take a picture with the intent of sharing it here on my blog.

In the minute or two it took me to do all that and arrive outside, all the colors were gone. All that was in front of me was a cloudy dull grey blue sky. The sun peeking through causing all those red, pink and magenta hues had obviously risen higher above the cloud layer. I was amazed at how quickly that beauty had vanished. On my way in, I bumped into my co-worker friend who was also on his way outside to admire the sunrise beauty. He might have been even more surprised than I was, commenting “You just said something a minute ago”.

I am taking this as a reminder for all of us that life and time continue on, with us or without us. How many sunrises or sunsets do we miss because we are too busy to take the time to pause and enjoy them. Now let’s take this further — how many moments with our children do we miss because we are too busy with work or the house or with chores or errands. Or how many moments with loved ones do we miss because of those same things. Or how many moments do we miss to tell people of the Gospel and that Jesus loves them. So many opportunities that will be gone in an instant if we don’t grab them while they are in front of us.

So my lesson today — for me and you — is grab a hold of those moments when they are right in front of you.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

I have mentioned a time or two that my wife and I have embarked on the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University class. It has had a positive, if challenging, impact on us which I will need to blog about at some point.

One impact it had on our vacation was the fact that every expenditure was budgeted and pre-planned. For the first time in our married lives, we returned from vacation with no credit card charges. Even better, we returned with excess cash due to some things coming in under budget. How cool is that?!?!?

One category we eliminated was souvenirs. Because, after all, how much trinket crap do you need in your life? And don’t they all ultimately end up in the garbage or garage sale anyway? However, I still wanted to have something other than memories and photos to remember our wonderful beach vacation together. So I relied upon something I have done in the past and I made a special beach souvenir momento. I bought a six pack of cream soda in decorative clear glass bottles (budgeted under “groceries”), enjoyed them on the beach with help from my son, cleaned them out, and put sand and shells in them as a keepsake. Even my wife got in on the fun and made one for my college bound daughter — it shipped to her today.

So I am officially calling this the “Dave Ramsey souvenir”.

1 cream soda – $1.39
Destin beach sand – free
Vacation momento – priceless

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

I did not witness the bright orange ball pop up above the horizon on the day we departed, but I was able to snap a pre-dawn picture before the beach was bathed in light. Compare this to this morning’s sunrise before church. It is very different — no sand and no beach — but still beautiful. God is the daily artist and His canvas is vast, creative, varied, and beautiful.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

I was blessed enough to enjoy the sunrise and sunset bookends that God placed in our day at the beach today.

Destin sunrise

Destin sunset

These never get old.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

A picture of “D” walking into the Destin sunset. This never gets old.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Not only is it my wife’s b-day and I have the day off work, but the online order I submitted for the weather actually came through. It is a beautiful Kentucky country day with nice puffy white cotton ball clouds suspended against a clear blue sky, a slight enjoyable breeze, and a perfect temperature of 79F. And last night’s sunset was colorful and marvelous.

I can’t wait to see what the weekend holds. Until then, I am gonna soak all this up!

…..Dan

This morning on the way to work the intersection of the view in my rear view mirror and the music coming out of the radio was beautiful. The orange sun had just peeked above the distant treeline bathing the clouds above in pinks, reds and oranges. And the song audibly echoed the visual extravaganza.

Powerful, so powerful, Your glory fills the skies
Your mighty works displayed for all to see.
The beauty of Your majesty awakes my heart to sing
How marvelous, how wonderful You are.

Beautiful One, I love
Beautiful One, I adore
Beautiful One, my soul must sing

Do a search on By The Tree’s “Beautiful One” for more lyrics.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net