Sometimes You Need A Change Of Pace

This past Sunday my wife and I took our son with us to visit an elderly couple from our church that we hadn't seen for some time. They go to a different ward than we do now so we don't get to see them that often. They're at least in their later 80s if not older and recently welcomed a great, great grandchild to their family. My wife stayed with them for a few months when she first moved to Tulsa and she likes to check on them from time to time but as of late we weren't very lucky in trying to catch them at home.

Both my wife and I have been feeling stressed out and out of sorts so it was nice to sit with them and catch up. They have three small dogs and one of them named Tarapoto came to me and laid on me almost the entire time we were there. There's something about me that most cats and dogs pick up on and usually are drawn to. They can sense that I will hold and pet them basically as long as they like. Well Tarapoto stayed with me and I gave him attention almost nonstop and he was in heaven. It made for a very relaxing, tranquil time for me and according to my wife it recharged her batteries. She commented that the spirit is very strong in their house and I agree with her.

At a time when so many things are pulling us in different directions something like this visit helped to center us and bring us back to where we should be. It's difficult with the two of us working different shifts, taking care of our son with no family in the area and trying to progress as people and as a family. It's easy to fall into bad habits and not take the time to communicate with each other but so much harder to put in the work that a relationship requires.

I'm glad we were able to learn a valuable lesson and slow down our pace, visit people who we care about and who care about us and just relax. We need to do more of it more often. That's the trick of course, making the time to do what's really needed instead of spending it how we think it's needed. Hopefully we'll take this lesson to heart.