soaking up life...

I remember something that Rich Mullins said a few years before he died... something to the effect of... "the more I grow up, the more I learn to soak in life, rather than speed on by it."

Well, I skipped YAM Bible Study tonight because of that dumb 15 page paper that's still staring me in the face... and I'm just staring back at it, not really DOING anything about it just yet! AAHHH!! Anyway, the night is beautiful, so I went for a long walk... and it was just so still, so peaceful. Somehow, all of my craziness and hecticness just wanted to HALT and be still with the quiet of the evening. And then I remembered that Rich Mullins quote, and somehow, I started to slow down. I was kind of laughing to myself though and thinking-- can the words "grad student" and "slow down" be used in the same sentence?? HA... it wasn't the case so much for me this year... sadly. But it could be... I'm learning about that.

Anyway, so tonight I slowed down... and this is what I discovered-

• There is a chihuahua about 5 houses down who likes to "attack" humans. Tonight, she ran out into the street to "attack" me... obviously thinking she is much larger than she really is! Then, I cracked up while I helped my neighbor "catch" her as she ran down the street, still barking ferociously. The best part was seeing the embarrassed look on his face and hearing him rebuke her, "Kia, you know how to be a nice dog. You know how to treat our neighbors." Oh, it reminded of the way my mom and dad "talk" to Dooley. Sometimes, I'm convinced that Dooley is really my youngest sibling!
• There are MANY wonderful climbing trees in my neighborhood. I found a couple in a field that I MUST try out sometime.
• Lilacs are AMAZING! Beautiful... and the smell is INCREDIBLE. I decided that when I get married, I want lilacs everywhere!
• Irises are pretty cool too.
• I like how ducks land on water. They kind of put their "feet" out as if they are brakes, which must help them to slow down and actually come to a stop on the water. I began to wonder if we modeled our airplane brake systems after ducks!
• When "Be Still, My Soul" comes on your iPod, you gotta watch your step. It's not long before you sort of end up with your eyes closed, running into stuff.

So good old Rich encouraged me to soak up life... and the 15 page paper is not done yet... but maybe some "soaking" was in order first. =)