How To Keep A Peaceful Pace In A Hurry Up World

Eight. Days.

HOW is it that Christmas is 8 days away friends?

Like you probably, I don’t know the answer to the HOW…

I just know the season seems to pick up the pace with each passing year.

The energy level here, at Krout-land has definitely ticked up a touch or two in the past few days as well…maybe you feel it at your house too?

I’ve got some words today that may help with all of that hurry up and hectic noise that is hanging in the air.

But first…

If you are joining our Notes for my Daughters blog community from the sweet share by Thistlewood Farms last week or from the always uplifting Club 31 Women community, can I just say…

WELCOME new friends!

I am Heather & I am so happy you are here!

It was an exciting week.

Not only, is it always a true honor to be featured by KariAnne at Thistlewood, but I am truly humbled to have had my very first devotional published and shared by Club 31 Women.

This was a BIG deal for me…because I re-learned an important lesson and had an up close seat to see God’s hand move, more than once.

So come close friend, because this reminder and these encouraging words are both the kind you don’t want to miss.

Before I get too far ahead…can I also share with you a somewhat silly, yet meaningful lesson that I also learned this week?

The lesson is this:

You are never too old to sit on Santa’s lap.

Ok…maybe not ON Santa’s lap…but you are never too old to sit WITH Santa and share a unique time stamp of the season.

Allow me to demonstrate.

One minute my sweet Mom and I are walking the mall, headed to make a quick purchase at Bath & Body Works (hello pre-teen daughter, I see you) and the next minute?

We spotted a lonely Santa with zero line who was chatting it up with his Elves.

And with one quick exchange between mother-daughter eyes?

We read each other’s minds.

Before we could stop ourselves, we were sitting next to the big guy in red and I was dishing my wish for a warm weather vacation…and then?

We read a book with Santa.

I kid you not.

No line friends.

No line.

The gift of a lonely mall Santa and two ladies who made the ultimate “impulse buy.”

Honestly, the entire experience was amazing and it turns out to be the gift that keeps on giving, as we continue to giggle over the silliness of the entire event.

The lesson?

Don’t take yourself too seriously, try hard not to get so caught up in the crazy. Come up for air, laugh a little and simply enjoy the ones your with…and most importantly?

Let your gut guide you.

My Mom and I both let go of the gift giving list for a minute, followed our gut, and received a gift that was not on our originally scheduled program.

A gift that I will treasure for years and years to come, especially every time I see a mall Santa.

Here’s the thing…

I recently listened to my gut in another way.

It has to do with something I did while sitting at this desk in my home office.

For several weeks, I had been experiencing this God nudge to reach out and introduce myself to Club 31 Women, in an effort to inquire about writing opportunities. For a long time now, I have been reading their encouraging devotionals from a variety of writers, filled with heart-warming words. Always finding them to be very helpful and purposeful in inspiring me to be more mindful about the kind of home and the relationships I desire to create for our family.

Club 31 Women is a Christian ministry organization that offers all types of resources available on their website, from books by the founder, podcasts and so much more, all pointing towards the goal of sharing a passion for, faith, husband, home and family.

Long story short, after several weeks of having a God nudge in my gut, I finally sent an email by filling out the blank query form at the bottom of their website in an effort to introduce myself as a writer and share my blog.

Later, I received the most polite auto-reply, gently informing me that while they are sure I am a talented writer, they were not accepting new, contributing writers at this time.

And then?

Then, I received a different kind of email.

A personal email from the founder of Club 31 Women.

It stopped me in my tracks.

In her email, she mentioned that I had probably already received an auto-reply explaining that they are not accepting new writers…but that she would like to make an exception and invite me to guest write a post for them, if I was still interested.

I was humbled to the point of tears.

I was quickly connected with a lovely woman on staff, who added me to their devotional schedule for March 2022, with a February deadline.

Perfect!

I thought…after the holidays…with plenty of time to ponder and perfect what would be my first ever published devotional.

I shared my excitement with Shawn, our daughters and my Mom in the days that slipped by next.

And then?

God moved…AGAIN.

I received another email from the Club 31 staff, explaining that they had a thought of having me write a post for the following week.

With a deadline of 6 days from that day.

I found myself once again, re-reading the words in the email, to be sure I wasn’t confused.

Sure enough, I was being offered a chance to write.

A chance to write to the timeline tune of next week, while also keeping my already scheduled slot in the Spring.

Oh God…you are SO AMAZING.

To Him be all the glory and praise for this incredible opportunity.

In summary, the lesson is this:

I let my gut guide me and then God moved within my act of obedience to what He was calling me to do.

This lesson is a lesson I have learned over and over and every time…it can only be explained by God’s handiwork carried out in the midst of our humble acts of obeying what He prompts us to do.

Needless to say, it has been quite the humbling and exciting to experience the opportunity to exercise my words in a new way.

Hold them out to God and watch Him move, so that they could catch the wind and be carried across the country in different directions.

And so friend?

On this 8 days away from Christmas schedule, I invite you to read the words that were first published at Club 31 Women this past week, all bathed in prayer and aimed to encourage your heart, to find a peaceful pace in this hurry up world we are living in…especially right now.

“How To Keep A Peaceful Pace In A Hurry Up World”

Heather Krout

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” – Matthew 11:28-30 NKJV

It’s December and we are in the middle of the holiday season hustle and bustle.  I don’t need to tell you, that it’s also the season where our calendars are notoriously overbooked, our wallets overstretched and our hearts – dare I say?

Overwhelmed?

It is in this season, that I lean heavily on the daily discipline of my quiet time in the morning.  First minutes, spent in vertical dialogue with God, laced in quiet surrender and hope to set my mind for the day.

But if I’m being honest?

Sometimes, even carving out those little, white space minutes of margin at the top of my day…well, it isn’t enough.

A few hours of nightly rest, followed by a string of well intentioned, quiet morning minutes are simply not enough to carry me through all that the day is packing.  

Perhaps you can relate?

A quick look at the interior maps of our hearts, will surely trace over the unique miles marched and tender tissue trials that we have all been forced to face, ever since the word pandemic took a place in our every day vocabulary.

The reality is, that it has taken more than the usual, to carry our physical bodies with a forward paced faith, through each season.  

Let alone each day…and now, into the holiday.

More patience, more resilience, more perseverance, more trust, more hope, more lovethan before.

What I’ve found is that all of that more…also requires more rest. 

Maybe you feel the deep longing for rest from this extended journey too?

And now…in this holiday season that is baked in the batter of get up, hurry up, show up?  It’s no wonder we find ourselves feeling a little sideways.   

Lost even, in the seasonal scramble of squeeze speed to get it all in, before it’s over.

Oh friend, it is ok to zoom in on a feeling for a minute or more, linger when you need to and even…stop to simply catch your breath.

We can either keep chasing the wind of the wild west world, filled with noisy rounds shot into the air of “hurry up and faster now!”

Or?

We can bravely take out our creased, tear stained interior map that traces over our every trial and lay it down before our God.

And then?

Receive the exquisite exchange of His never ending mercies sent to saturate and soak the soil of our weary, worn down souls.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Lamentations 3:22-23

Scripture reminds us that His mercies are new every morning.

New.

Every morning.

Not old mercies.

Not some mornings.

New every morning.

Sweet friend, it’s time we take a breath and come up for air, and not just in the morning.

Imagine your day as a sheet of looseleaf, lined piece of paper.

The white space margin along the top is what I think of as my quiet morning minutes spent in collaborative conversation with God.

But then?

I have a habit of taking the pen and filling the entire sheet, top to bottom, with all the things.

Leaving no white space, I tend to write a story that tucks me or collapses me into bed, all so that I can wake up and re-write the same script again tomorrow.

But what if?

What if, in the middle of the working, eating, playing marathon…what if we skipped a line and came up for air?

Heather Krout

What I’m learning is that we can takes cues for rest even in the middle minutes of our day.

Accept a rest cue, invitation by the One who is the source of our deepest rest.

Somewhere along the way, we got tangled up, channeling our value straight from the connected cord of busy.

What we do and how much we do, especially during the holiday season, equals how valuable I am to the people around me.

Oh how we have gotten it so wrong sometimes.

How might you seek and seize a rest-cue moment in the middle of your day?   

Here are some ways I accept a rest-cue moment:

A walk around the block after my daughters board the bus.

A breath prayer in the parking lot before I head into the busy store.

A minute or more stare out the window, watching the sparrows feast on the feeder.

A short snuggle with our pup on the sunbeam dotted floor, in her favorite spot before I step over her. 

Each a small choice to rest into the cues around me and quiet the noise that taunts me to hurry up so I don’t “fall behind.”

When we seek and seize the cues and welcome a rhythm that may look low and slow to others…we are listening to the “learn from Me” invitation in our key verse. 

Resting into the cues throughout our day for a soft pause, is obedience in action.

Slowing down in a hurry up world is not playing small or a sign of weakness, it is growing in grace and trust in the One in whom our real rescue can be found.

Even more…the choice to rest into the cues of calm, creates an atmosphere of peace for those around us.

So?

Skip a line, come up for air friend, because stillness with the Lord outruns the race of the world.

(You can see my devotional at Club 31 Women, read and subscribe to receive more devotionals like this here.)

There it is friend.

My first published devotional…brought into the atmosphere by a God who gives us the nudges when we need them and who sent His only son to live among us and die for us.

This is why we celebrate the season of Christmas.

Because a baby was born in a barn, sent to save us from ourselves if only, we will choose to receive Him.

Want to know another rest-cue secret of mine?

I like to wake up before the sun wakes up and take our Willa pup outside while the sky is still inky and crisp overhead.

More often than not, after I have brewed my coffee, I find myself slipping back outside to snap a picture of the world waking up to the miracle of the sunrise.

Earlier this week, the sky pictured below, reminded me of the ocean waves washing over our favorite sandy shore, one right after the other.

Waves of clouds sent to wake us up.

This morning, the sky was soft layers of purples and pinks.

Oh and friend?

Neither of these photos are not filtered in anyway.

God doesn’t need a filter to make things beautiful.

These little morning moments?

It’s simply an exchange between God and I to offer my deep thanks for HOW BIG HE IS.

Dear friend, I pray this message comforts you today, to step out of the race pace as needed, let your gut guide you into your day and rest into the cues for quiet and calm.

Just yesterday, I rested into a cue for quiet.

I needed to inhale the smell of Christmas versus the stress of Christmas.

Whenever I am feeling a bit stretched and scrambled, I find it best to step away from whatever it may be and get busy with my hands.

Yesterday, making this stovetop potpourri was exactly the rest-cue I needed to pause and ponder in order to fight off the noise of hurry up and hectic.

The recipe was shared by Nesting with Grace on her blog and smells so good! It simmered last night on the stove and filled the kitchen with exactly what I needed.

This morning, I turned the burner on low again and allowed the smell to gently wake up the house inside while the sun did her thing outside.

Here is Nesting with Grace’s recipe that she shared on her blog:

(PS: I took Brooke’s suggestion and printed this image out and plan to make a few jars of the dry ingredients, cover with cloth and tie off with ribbon to give as gifts. Thank you for sharing!!)

In the middle of the hustle and bustle, may we all self select to rest into the cues for calm and quiet, pause and ponder and allow our minds to drift to that very first Christmas.

Merry Christmas dear friend.

Dear God,

Thank you for all of the ways you show up, and guide us. You are our ever present help and source of strength. Thank you for your countless blessings and Your miraculous grace. I am so grateful for all that you have done and continue to do.

Help us to seek our joy in You and rejoice in the gift of your Son.

Amen.

Living on a prayer,

Heather