Ever feel slow...I mean really slow, like no matter how hard you try you just can't move fast enough?

I know I do.  All the time.  So much to do, I can push, pull, force and frantically move, and I still can't seem to get what I wanted done in the amount of time I wanted it done in.  Often times the lack of ability to, speed up, get the job done, move quicker, has made me feel like I have failed in some way.  Then there is the Tortes.

Most people remember hearing the story of the tortes and the hair when they were children.  The hair was quick as quick could be, and left the poor tortes in the dust, but in the end, the meek, the mild, the slow, the steady one, is the one who crossed the finish line first.  Much to the hair's chagrin, his lowly friend bested him with the tenacity only a turtle could have.

I met a tortes one day, moving slowly along, crossing an empty parking lot. He had a goal, a purpose, and a destination.  It didn't matter that he was slow, all that mattered was that he kept moving. And, though I didn't have the time to watch the entire adventure take place, I am sure that he reached his destination, because he wouldn't stop.  Not even for a crazy girl with a camera in his face.  He just kept on moving.

Next time I feel like I am moving at turtle speed, I am going to think of that tortes, and remember as long as I keep going, have my goal in mind, and stop worrying about the when, I will reach my destination.

Isaiah 40:31
But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

What does one do when faced with the unbounded beauty of the natural world, in all the grace and splendor which God created it.  Well, if you were my two year old daughter, you would throw a stick in it.

On a recent trip to my husbands home state of Colorado we decided to hike from Maroon Bells to Crater Lake.  A definite challenge, especially considering the snow on the ground, and my husband carrying our daughter on his back.  We finally get there, and well, I brake out the camera...snap, snap snapping away.  I was in awe off the whole landscape, it was awesome!!!  Autumn on the other hand decided to take a moment and truly experience nature, she picked up the nearest stick, and threw it in the lake...then again, then again.  And at that moment, I wonder if God gives a joyful chuckle.  Here he creates immense beauty that can hardly be described, cascading mountainsides, crystal clear water, bold blue sky, with soft white clouds. All of that, and the most amusing thing around is a small wooden stick, and the splash it makes in the water, again and again. Wow. I would bet that God delights in that simple pleasure of a little girl that he also created having a blast.

I marvel at the simplicity of it all. Maybe, next time, I will put down the camera and throw a few myself.