~ Hitting the Pause Button ~

Hannah loves the park! At least once a day, she asks if we can go. When we lived on a military base, the housing area was full of parks. On our street alone there was three. It was easy to walk across the street and let her run around for a little bit. The neighborhood felt safe, and if you went before school got out no one else was there. She had the park all to herself! Now, the nice park, is about a fifteen minute drive. It is usually always full of kids, and it is either boiling hot or freezing cold. None of these factors bug Hannah because she is four, and a four year old just want to run.
Last Saturday, I had finally finished writing the most stressful essay EVER! I was tired. I was not happy with my paper, and proceeded to spend the day thinking about all the changes I should have made. By two o clock in the afternoon, I was more than done with dwelling on this essay. I told Hannah to put her shoes on because I was taking her to a surprise. As we were driving to the surprise, I could see her little brain working. She has a really good memory, and I knew she was trying to remember if she she had been this way before. When it finally clicked, in her four year old brain, that we were at the park, she was ecstatic. This girl's day had just been made. She was giddy with excitement as she jumped out the car, and ran towards the park.
I took my spot on the bench and watched her run from the big slide to the little slide, from the dinosaurs to the seesaw. She wanted to play with everything. I went back to pinning on Pinterest when her little voice started to call me. At this park, there is an umbrella looking piece of equipment that you can hang from. An adult pushes it the kids go spinning around. I will admit that at first I was a little annoyed to have to get up from the worlds most uncomfortable bench; however, when I watched her brave this piece of equipment something touched my spirit. Vividly in my mind came the thought, "hit the pause button on your life, and watch Hannah live hers."
I decided not to pick up my phone up for the rest of the time we were at the park. Instead, I pushed her as high as I could on the swings, and watched her climb the ladder, and slide down the slide. For the next hour, I watched this beautiful little girl play without a care in the world.
My goal for this week is to hit the pause button more often, and spend meaningful one on one time with Hannah. It doesn't have to be a trip to the park everyday, although she wouldn't complain if we did, but things as simple as reading books, playing with toys, or baking cookies. I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for this simple, yet powerful reminder. After all she is only four once.