It's Time to Slow Down

Have you ever felt like things are simply moving too fast? Well, I feel like that a lot cuz there's too much going on. Let's talk about that today. Hi, my name is Chrystal Hurst, and I'm so glad that you joined me here. I go live every Monday inside of my membership, the Inner Circle, and The portion of the video that is right and tight for the public gets put up here on Sunday evenings. I'm glad you caught me. I hope you stay. Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and also make sure you're following me on Facebook so that whenever I release a video, you'll catch it. Now listen, I want to jump into this and I want to hit this one like, like I sometimes like to say, I want to hit it and quit it. Somebody told me that means something else, but I mean it in the best way. Listen, I recently was on a cruise to Alaska. My dad, Dr. Tony Evans, took a cruise, a cruise to Alaska. Um, it was basically like a conference on a boat. It was great. I felt super, super relaxed. Look at me, skin kind of glowing in the morning light. That's how I felt most of the week. Didn't take children with us. We took an oldest son, but that oldest son was just as happy for me to leave him alone as I was for him to leave me alone too. And so it all worked out. My husband and I, we did conference things, we did teachings and Q&As and meeting guests and sitting with folks at dinner. But the rest of the time, I really got to do a bunch of nothing. And because a bunch of nothing meant that sitting in your stateroom you could get room service, I literally didn't really leave the room that much. I was very happy with all the movies and the room service and my laptop because, of course, I bought a week's worth of internet on the boat. I mean, I know you're supposed to disconnect, but why? Why? When the internet is amazing. Anyway, I realized that I had not been to the dining room at least one time for breakfast. So the last morning of the cruise, I did it. I went to breakfast. I sat there and ordered all the things, because the beautiful thing about a cruise is you can order all the things. And enjoyed them bringing breakfast to me at a table. There were a few more options when you decided to go to the dining hall, but really more than the options, what I really enjoyed was the ability to sit there, be served, and enjoy a beautiful morning in the dining hall. Somehow it felt like dining room, I was starting the day off right. Really what happened there is I was starting the day off right because I was starting it off a little slower. And undistracted. Let me tell you why moving slower and undistracted matters. Right now I'm in the middle of a small renovation in my home because a year and a half ago the pipes busted in our home, and we've been fighting with insurance for a year and a half to get everything paid. We finally started work on our home. We have been busy. So when I started working with the contractor, and there were some changes with the contractors that worked with our company I was giving information and giving details quickly because life has been crazy the last month. So when the contractor asked me for the paint color, I gave him the paint color. We agreed that they would only start painting the ceilings first, and apparently that memo did not get down to the actual painters. So one day I walked into my home and realized that the painters were painting the walls. I wasn't really ready for that because I wanted to move around the painters and I wanted to know where I needed to shift and be while they were painting. That was the main reason. I— we had an agreement and they were not doing it exactly the way that I liked, but they started. As I looked at the walls, which was a different color than what we had before on purpose, I kept looking at it and thinking, this is really pretty, but I'm just not so sure that this feels right. It's pretty, but something about it doesn't feel right. So I looked for the paint card. I couldn't find the paint card, but I had texted the previous contractor the paint card. Actually, I had painted him too because we'd had some work done last year and we used one paint for that house. And apparently, y'all, I texted to the new contractor for this house the old paint color. They're not that far apart. One is more cool and one is more warm. They're both light. But in my rush to give the new contractor the right paint color. I looked at my text messages for the old contractor and gave him the old paint color, which while it is beautiful, because I already picked it for another situation, it doesn't match my house. My house is warm. So this paint is beautiful, doesn't really match my house. So I had to literally text the contractor this morning and tell him, hey, you know that paint color I sent you? It was for the other job that you all did. Sorry, they're not that far apart. I'd already given my old contractor this information. I know that there was a change of the guard at your company, and in my rush and in the painting that started before it was supposed to, I gave you the wrong color. So you're going to have to come back and repaint the entire living room and the entire kitchen the right color. But before you do that, I'm going to go get a sample and I'm gonna paint a swatch on the wall, a nice big section, to make absolutely sure this time I'm getting it right. I'm going to— here's the key for today— slow down. Now y'all, I'm a good multitasker, I'm a good busy bee, I believe in working fast, I'm a fast person, I'm a fast thinker. And while I don't want to apologize for that, there are certain times in life when it's simply worth your time to intentionally slow down, take in the scenery, double and triple check your decisions, your thought processes, and your moves. Because juggling too many balls and moving too fast often will require you to slow down. And listen, there's a lesson about life right here. When life requires you to slow down because your mind can't take it, your body can't take it, your finances can't take it That's not a kind— that's not the kind of slowdown that you want. I chose to slow down on the boat, go to the dining room. I enjoyed taking in the scenery, being present, paying attention. I enjoy and will enjoy painting this swatch of paint on my wall to make sure this is the color I want to live with for the next long years. But what I am reminded of, even on a morning like this when there's a doctor's appointment to get to, and I'm sure that my son, who I see coming, is not happy about having to ride in the same car with his dad because we all got to go to all the appointments today. Something interesting happens when you're forced to slow down, or you choose to slow down, either one. You realize that the scenery isn't that bad. So here's to moving fast at a pace that is sustainable, but here's to choosing to slow down and pay attention to the scenery. I have one car right now that's working in my family. We are a family of 3 cars, one each for the parents and one that the teenagers share. The teenager's car right now has a flat tire. It's sitting at the place that it needs to be sitting at because it shouldn't have been driven. My car had a check engine light come on, and we were told by the dealership that I'm gonna have to rebuild the engine.

What?

Come on now, my car has 170,000 miles on it. I intended to drive it to 300. Say no car payment, people. No car payment. So we are all in one car as a family, and I looked over at my husband yesterday and I said We've done this before. It's not so bad. As a matter of fact, a Sunday afternoon all forced to be in one car together all day is beautiful. It's a slowdown I don't like. I'm not trying to rebuild that engine, y'all. The dealership is about to hear from me on today. Somebody say on today. However, between those two cars being down, the paint being wrong, and me realizing that pausing for breakfast alone on a random morning on a cruise ship is not a bad way to start the day. I am reminded that moving slower in life, intentionally, in moments, is a great way to take snapshots of your life and get it right. Slowing down is not all bad. Here's the key to living well: you want to choose when you move slower. We know that the Sabbath is a day that you're supposed to set aside. God gave us that day for our benefit because he knew that if we didn't have at least one day where we slowed down and did things at a different pace, we wouldn't be good. So here's my encouragement to you to intentionally slow down, whether that's every day or one day. Pick a day to look out the window, pay attention to what you're eating, take a long drive with your family, pause and finish the book. And I know that you may not be able to see where you can slow down, but here's what I'm going to tell you: you will see it very clearly when life chooses the slowdown for you, and that's what you don't want. So think to yourself, if I had to, if life forced me to, what would that look like? And choose to do that for yourself. I hope this has been encouraging to you, and if it has, I hope you share it with a friend. Tell me in the comments where in life are you moving too fast, or how you've learned to slow down. Your confession or your wisdom shared in the comments will help all of the women and a few men who watch this to do better about living their life well. And you know what I believe in this Sister Circle? We're better together. All right, have a great day, have a great week, and I'll see you next time.

Hey, so I talked to you already about the importance of down. I'm actually slowing down personified right now. I'll let you see. I am on the way to take boy number one, who is asleep right here, back to college. And, uh, on the way back, uh, we are staying in an Airbnb for a couple of and I was thinking— I talked about this video about slowing down and the principles of it, but I wanted to give you some practical application. Um, really, most of the slowing down that we do is rhythmic, and it is in the cracks and crevices. There are whole seasons of your life where you will be slow. You might be slow when you're retired, or it may feel slow when you're home with a newborn, or it may be slow when you're on a job that you hate, just counting down the days until you are vested in your retirement. You may be feeling slower in a summer in between school semesters, but most of life is this right here. It's from having a crazy last couple of weeks and being home for one day, and then I'm jumping up trying to take my son back to school. I found 36 hours, 36 hours to stop at this Airbnb. And I'm sitting here thinking, reading, getting a little bit of work done, but I'm sitting here at the sound of the ocean. That is the backdrop that spells slowly down for me. Now, I'm not gonna be here a whole week. That'd be nice. And, um, you know, I don't have any big plans. That'd be nice. But basically, it was just before he gets back to a semester of school and before I get back to a semester of homeschooling and rhythm with work, I said, from here to here, right in the middle, right there, I can find a spot for slowing down. Let me tell you, most of the slowing down in your life will be rhythmic or in the cracks and crevices. Rhythmic is Sabbath. I remember growing up, um, after church on Sundays, after a big meal, we would all nap. The nap was non-negotiable. It wasn't optional. You had to nap, and then we went back to church. Those were the days when you went back to church. And, um, Sabbath Sundays, slowing was a part of our rhythm. Saturdays, it was slow. We were bored as kids. We got up, we had to clean, and then after cleaning, we watched Westerns and Soul Train. Y'all don't know about Soul Train, but, um The rhythms in my life are different now. Slowing down for me is in the mornings turning on music, writing in a journal, drinking a cup of tea, and starting my day slow so that when the day starts and wants to move a little faster, I've had a pacing that fills my soul, fills my heart. Um, so I want you to think about what is the rhythm that works for you. Is it Is it a day of the week? Is it a time of the day? Is it in between the cracks and crevices? Slowing down means when your children nap, you nap. I know you're tempted to do all the things while they're asleep. But your sleep gives you overflow to mom them better when they're awake. Slowing down means that— you know what? When I was working in corporate America, Everybody would take all these days off at Christmas.

I wouldn't.

You want to know why? Because when everybody was off, the office was super slow. So I was like, oh, I'm gonna save my days for when y'all are doing the most, and I'll make sure my job is done, but I'm gonna save my time off for that. And I would work during the holidays. The drive into work was smooth and easy. Nobody was on the road. I got to the office, it's not a lot going on, and, um, that was slowing down for me. So I want you to know that slowing down doesn't have to look like, you know, a 2-week vacation or a 14-day cruise. Slowing down doesn't have to look like, you know, you have 3 days of nothingness or a long weekend every other weekend. Slowing down can be done successfully.— with rhythms that you're committed to. Sunday afternoon naps. I have a girlfriend who has been a good friend to me. We've worked together. She's even done some work with the Sister Circle and the Inner Circle. And she is committed to her Sunday afternoon naps. And I know it. I know, I know, I know I shouldn't call her between 1:00 to 4:00. She's committed to that. What can you be committed to rhythmically? And then where in your life amongst the chaos, despite the chaos, can you carve out a few minutes to feel the wind on your face, to hear the breeze in your ears, to be still enough to hear the voice of God, to enjoy fresh air, to take the nap? To read the book. I have friends that sit in the carpool line and they intentionally get there early so that they have 20, 30 minutes of sitting in the carpool line, and then they read. Not when the line is moving, but when they're waiting for the kids to come out. That is their crack and crevice. That is their bit of Sabbath. You realize you have the ability to create heaven on earth every day. But you may not be able to do it in a broad stroke. You may have to do it in the cracks and crevices. You can create rhythms for your life where you intentionally slow down, let your mind catch up with your heart, or your heart catch up with your body, and allow everything to align. I'm a fast mover. I know multitasking is a myth. I know that multitasking is really task switching, and that if you task switch too fast, you don't do it well. I know it, but I'm still pretty good at that. There is a glory and a depth and a fueling for the rest of your life that comes from intentionally not doing all that, doing one thing. Focusing, hearing the rhythm of your own heartbeat. So my hope is that even in those little examples that you see something about your life. Listen, I used to go to corporate America, y'all. I chose to go into work early so I could have a smooth drive into work, perfectly timed to my podcast, get to work early. I'll pull out my Bible or get some work done so I could leave a little bit early at the end of the day. I found slow even inside of my fast-paced corporate job. Take my lunch, I would take it outside, not in the Texas stupid weather, but you know, when the weather was decent, and I would sit outside on a bench and people watch, eating my turkey and cheese sandwich. Whatever your situation in life, you can create Sabbath— slow thoughts, slow heart, slow body— and watch and see whether or not that fills you up. So those are my practical tips injected into this video. These are my after-the-show thoughts. You're welcome. I hope it blesses you.