Manoftheplace and I are going to just "rest".  I'm not even "waiting" or "watching" at this point.  I'm so tired of trying to figure out everything and trying to read the signs as to where the Lord *might* be leading.  Know what I mean?  So much of my time has been spent waiting and watching and dreaming for the next thing that I have somewhat overlooked the joy of the moment in my children's lives right in front of me!  I'm always straining to see what's ahead. 

You know, I was hit hard with this very thing... and my eyes flew open to my tendencies to run ahead.  It was during our trip.  We went to the Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg, TN (awesome aquarium, by the way. You would all love it.).  My kids were peeking at one thing and running off to the next in warp-speed.  Then we saw an opening on the bottom floor to which Geckmeister said... "No!  I wanna go see these fish again!", pointing to a little aquarium to the left which was nearly empty.  We insisted he obey and dragged him along into the opening.  We found ourselves in the glass tunnel which went under all the giant fish tanks.  I started walking and the woman attendant told me to stop and stand on the conveyor belt, please.  It was going so very slowly... I mean slllooooowwwwwlllyyyy and the tunnel was very long and curvy.  My initial thought was, "GREAT... this will take all day and I wanna see the Next Thing." There were many other people of all ages on the belt and do you know what?  It was nearly silent in that tunnel!  We were all calm ~ all staring at things which we would have never seen had we even been casually walking.  We were letting the creator of the museum dictate how quickly we were moving through the tunnel... how amazing!  How relaxed we all were.  How MANY things we would have missed had we hurried.  We noticed and enjoyed even the smallest movements as we went along.  We noticed colors and shapes of fish we had never seen before.  We observed how differently all the fish, sting rays, sharks, sawfish move and glide and interact with one another.  Those creatures actually came alongside the glass and LOOKED at us and STUDIED us because we weren't whizzing past.  God speaks in mysterious ways, my dear friend!

So, I'm standing on His "conveyor belt" and absorbing what He has in front of me.  Yeah, my desires will always be there, but He will have to do the work this time as our strength and resources are tapped out.  I can't believe time hurries along so quickly.  I'm so so so convicted by this.  Sometimes I think I have a lot of work to do to try to slow down.  Then I remember it is just simply stepping onto a conveyor belt... HIS conveyor belt.  I don't have to DO anything to STOP and REST.  Silly me  :o)