Family, Slowing Down

Two Rocking Chairs

There are these two white rocking chairs on our front porch.  The one on the right is mine, the one on the left is my wife’s.  Like most things in marriage, I’m not sure how we arrived at this particular sitting arrangement, but arrive at it, we did.

Most evenings, right before the sun sets, we’ll sit on the front porch, rocking, and watching our kids play.  Our youngest will usually be near us, climbing up and down the porch steps, singing some silly song.  Our other two will be riding their bikes or playing catch.

Our cellphones, computers, and iPods will be in the kitchen, out of sight (and reach) – and we’ll spend thirty minutes to a hour, just rocking, just watching.

Over and over, evening after evening, our routine is relatively the same.  Viewed from some distance, each day might resemble the day that was before it, or the day after it.  And yet, each day is special, each evening filled with its own importance, its own memories.

There was the evening when my son first learned to catch a “pop fly” – and the evening when our oldest daughter found a snake that had curled up in the shade of an oak tree.  There was the evening when our youngest took her first walk in the yard, with bare-feet, giggling as the grass tickled her toes.

Six years ago (can it really be that long ago?) when I started No Credit Needed, my son had just turned 1.  Frightened and worried about out financial future, I knew that I had to do something.  So, I took out a piece of paper, jotted down some goals, created a rudimentary plan for achieving them – and we started on our journey.

Six years later, our plan is basically the same.  We live on a budget.  We spend less than we earn.  We save cash for short-term purchases.  We avoid consumer credit.  We look for bargains.  We share with others.  We live simply – and comfortably.  We invest for our future.

Those evenings on the porch, watching our kids, represent (to us, perhaps not to others), the very best in life.  So, we have added a new goal to our list – to slow down – and really enjoy the things, the opportunities, the relationships, the friendships, and the people, that are in our lives.

Obviously, we’ll continue to work – and work hard – and “life” will do its best to keep us busy, but we are going to be intentional (a word I’ve grown to love) – and focus on being in the moment, enjoying the moment, and focused on the moment.  We are going to slow down – and find a new pace, one that allows for more rocking chair moments.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll have more to say about our new pace-of-life.  In the meantime, thank you, for slowing down, just long enough to read my ramblings.  I hope you have an awesome, blessed day.  You rock!

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