“Awwwwww!” A little girl’s voice rang out, eyeing my dog, Sammy. She leaned her bike in the grass and came running up to me, her wavy hair bouncing against her back as she ran. She looked as if she was eight years old or so. Sammy excitedly wagged his tail—happy as always for a chance to be loved on.
“He’s just too cute! Can I pet him??” She asked eagerly, and I made small talk with her as she leaned over to pet him. I was just taking Sammy outside for a minute, but the little girl took a long time to adore him. After he had given her kisses, she spoke up again, this time asking a different question.
“Can we sit down and talk for a bit?” This caught me off guard. I’d seen the girl biking around the neighborhood recently, but I’d never talked to her before. I had plans for the day, and I hadn’t accounted for this. Yet her brown eyes looked up at me questioningly, waiting for my response.
For the next hour, I found myself sitting on the grass next to her, Sammy asleep at her feet, as she chattered about random things. She never ran out of things to talk about, from her dog, to birthday’s, to friends, to just about anything you could possibly think of. The smile never left her face as she spoke, and she seemed delighted to have someone to listen to her.
I hadn’t planned on talking to her for so long, but I found myself enjoying the time to stop and listen to someone else. It’s easy for me to rush on, from one thing to another, and miss chances like that. Isn’t that true for all of us? Life is busy, filled with places to be, and sometimes in the rush of it, we miss moments to pause and truly be in the moment. With school starting back up, life is getting especially crazy, yet I’m determined this school year to be intentional with my actions, and take the time to pause and live in the moment. God is the One who gives us every moment we have. Instead of taking it for granted, let’s live in the moment, giving God the glory and honor every step of the way.
