The Ferris Bueller Principle

At the bottom there are some pretty cool then & now pictures of us and Izzy.

I know most of us have seen the 1980’s classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. If you haven’t it’s a piece of pop culture worth investing a couple hours of your life in. Mostly for the fact that Ferris knows how to do something that everyone is always saying they desire to do- slow down and enjoy life. As the famous line of the movie says “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

That’s not the story Will and I want to write for ourselves. We don’t want to miss out on life. I don’t believe God gives us this life and this creation to fill our time with work, clutter, bills, and busyness. I believe He gives us a life and a world to live abundantly in. To enjoy. To pause and savor.

That is how we spent this past Sunday. Sure it was Mother’s Day, but we had already celebrated Mother’s Day with our moms and grandmas. I know that there were things at home we could have done- laundry, stained crates for another coffee table we are going to make and sell, cleaning, working on my t-shirt quilt, working on the yard….. There is always something. But instead of filling our day with all the usual business that becomes second nature to us, we decided to do something more organic and enjoyable. We headed to the gorge for an afternoon of hiking.

After church we came home, changed, and hopped in the car. Will got to listen to the Reds game on the radio while we drove, so he was a happy camper. We hiked 4 miles of trail and hopped off the path at several points to let Izzy splash through a creek, gawk at waterfall, act like mountain goats scrambling around on rocks, investigate caves, and inspect the interesting vegetation and wildlife there (to see more awesome pictures of it, go to my facebook album).

look at that, don’t you just feel like you are on heaven’s front porch, about to knock on God’s front door?

The forest is full of life, but it is slow. It is vibrant, vivacious, varied; but it’s calm and soothing. For Will and I, taking a few hours to drive over to Red River Gorge and go for a hike is like hitting reset on life. It reopens our eyes to the glory of the world around us, it widens our imagination, it creates an opportunity to just be, relax, get away, think, dream, talk.

That hike was like a Red Bull for my spirit. Ferris Bueller was spot on when he said that we need to stop and look around every once in a while.

Will and Izzy Pup at the Arch/Waterfall =)

I won’t tell you how long it took me to get both of us AND the waterfall in this picture….

It’s not a matter of making time for it; it’s a matter of realizing it’s time well spent to say no to the everyday check list and say yes to a day of savoring your life, your family, and the world you live in.

Here are some savory moments of life that we got to experience this weekend:

Sunday is on the Left; 2 years & 2 months ago is on the Right.
Then: dating 6 weeks, hadn’t even said the “L-Bomb,” My first visit to KY, Will was finishing undergrad, the first time we got away to enjoy life and each other.
Now: Married almost 10 months, said “I love you” countless times, I MOVED to Ky almost a year ago!, Will is supposed to finish grad school next semester, and we have accumulated lots of memories together =)