Look at the beauty of the snow melting from our roof.

 
It is so graceful and delicate even as is moves toward oblivion – one drop at a time.
 
A swift whack with a snow shovel would bring it down quickly, but sometimes it is good to enjoy a gentle melting rather than a swift end to it.
 

There is something about gentleness.

 
I have felt the need to be gentle with myself today – even as whispers of “you need to do this” or “go do that” echo in my brain.
 
I’ve majored on ministering to my husband and being with him as we enjoy a cozy warm home and just watch the gentle melting going on outside.
 
 

My friend Linda ends her emails with “Go gently.”

This always makes me pause . . . and slow down . . . and be gentle with myself as well as with others.

Do you ever feel the need to be gentle with yourself?

I just finished reading The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern Word. [affiliate link]

Comer states: “The good of being delivered from hurry is not simply pleasure but the ability to do calmly and effectively with strength and joy that which really matters. Live your life entirely without hurry.”

He proposes 4 avenues to slowing down and being gentle with yourself (okay – those are my words, not his):

#1 Silence and solitude

#2 Sabbath

#3 Simplicity

#4 Slowing

Part of our hurried lifestyle can be the constant information we are always downloading into our brains. Even all that external noise needs to be turned off. Here are 9 tips for how to tune out the noise of constant information.

Life can be so demanding all around us, but the heaviest kinds of pressure are those that we put on ourselves.

Slow down.

Take a deep breath.

Walk outside.

Breathe in joy and love.

Breathe out hurry and pressures.

Remember to major on the majors and minor on the minors. (Hint: relationships are some of the majors!)

Slow down and be gentle with yourself as you listen to God’s voice every day.

 
“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life.” I Thess. 4:11 
 
slow down