AUGUST 8
Four Places at Once
There is a proper time and procedure for every delight. ECCLESIASTES 8:6
If you were to point your car southwest of Cortez, Colorado, drive exactly 38 miles along Highway 160 and then hang a right on Four Corners Monument Road, in about a half mile you'd run into the only spot in America where you can be in four states at the same time: the intersection of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. It's out in the middle of an empty desert, surrounded by dust, rocks and boulders.
But that doesn't stop upwards of 2,000 people a day from visiting Four Corners and waiting in line just for the thrill of having their picture taken standing in four states at once. Truly the American way, huh—trying to be four places at one time!
Truth be told, it's a picture of the way many of us elect to live our lives. We are constantly pulled in several different directions. Our pressure-filled, rush-rush, hurried lifestyle has a way of leaving us winded, dazed and addicted to the next item on our activity list.
It leaves us little time for serious spiritual reflection. Little time for anything more than snap judgments. Little time to share our dreams with each other as a couple. Little sense of where we've been and where we're going.
What's more, I fear that by crowding out any room for meaningful communication, original thought or spiritual insight in our family schedules, we're fueling in our children a raw addiction to activity, constant motion, continuous noise and endless sensory stimulation.
I urge you to stop and check the speed limit on this road you're on. Imagine a life that allows for real living . . . the kind you'll never find at Four Corners.
DISCUSS
What cutbacks and other restrictions could you impose on yourselves that would make your lives dramatically more manageable three to six months from now? Start by finding one thing you'll say no to.
PRAY
Ask God to give you both the tenacity and the wisdom to build some margin into your lives and family.
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