From The Director, Kathy Irvin:
November 2005 - Thanksgiving
This small column in the Tribune caught my eye and after a quick read, I ripped it out to save and share with you. "When I dropped my daughter Ruthie at preschool one morning, I looked quickly through her "take home" folder to see if there was anything I was supposed to have perused, signed, attached money to, returned, etc. There was a white piece of paper in the left pocket of the folder. I glanced at it as she hung her backpack in her cubby. Ruthie had used an ink pad and stampers to decorate the sheet with various shapes: apples, swirls, stars and crescents. I made a mental note that this probably was not an art project that I needed to hang on the fridge since it just seemed to be random shapes.
I folded the paper and hugged Ruthie goodbye. She took the paper, unfolded it carefully and said as she pointed to the various shapes: "Mommy, if you get lonely today, I want you to think about all of the great days we've had together. Like the time we went apple picking and made pies and the times we danced in circles and the time we went to the moon and saw all of the stars." Don't think I'll be tossing that paper after all. -Roxanne Farwick Owens
Thank goodness for children. They so often remind us of what life is really about don't they? Just another piece of artwork that I need to find space for but in reality a treasure overflowing with thoughts and feelings. In our dashing and organizing and planning we often miss the little signs that children are so good at seeing. They remind us in this season of gratitude where the real blessings can be found. Happiness comes so easily to them. One moment they can be flailing on the floor and the next distracted and delighting in a new discovery. Wish that life were so easy for us grownups! We work so hard at securing happiness and our children see it all around us.
Ruthie's random shapes on white paper really stirred something in me. Yes our children often like all of the wonderful activities we provide and buy for them. We can schedule all kinds of rich learning experiences. But what they really need and want is our time. Time to taste apples together and dance in circles. Time to ask questions and listen instead of assuming and instructing. It takes time to find that balance, time to teach and time to travel to the moon to see the all of the stars.
Another clipping, author unknown - Slow me down, Lord. Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind. Steady my hurried pace with a vision of the eternal reach of time. Give me, amid the confusion of the day, the calmness of the everlasting hills. Break the tension of my nerves and muscles with the soothing music of the singing streams that live in my memory. Help me to know the magical, restoring power of sleep. Teach me the art of taking minute vacations - slowing down to look at a flower, to chat with a friend, to pat a dog, to read a few lines from a good book. Slow me down, Lord, and inspire me to sink my roots deep into the soil of life's enduring values that I may grow toward the stars of my greater destiny.