sip it!

Caleb had a horrible cold, so I kept him home from school.  There was one errand I had to run, though, so I bundled up the miserable little child in a big, cozy blanket and tucked him into the van.  To assuage my guilt for dragging him around town, I said, “Do you want momma to buy you a hot chocolate?”  He wasn’t too sick for that, so I pulled into a road-side coffee stand. 

Two dollars later I handed him a steaming cup of chocolate and waited as the barista prepared my mocha.

As she handed my drink through the window, from the back seat I heard the loud sucking sound of a straw on empty cup bottom.

And my sweet momma voice turned into another flavor as I whipped my head around and hollered at my sick little boy.

“You already drank that whole thing?!!!  I paid to two dollars for that!  Don’t you know you’re supposed to savor it?  Sip it slowly?  Enjoy drinking it?”

“Sorry” he said. 

I learned today of a Chinese expression “man zou”, which means “walk slowly”, something said as a goodbye or a see-ya-later.  A reminder to stop and smell the roses, to savor life.

Walking is easy when the day has a lot of wiggle room, but today my list of things to do is so long I already know I will fail to get through half of it.  What if I really need to hit the floor running?

Ecclesiastes 11:8 says, “However many years a man may live, let him enjoy them all.”  Enjoyment requires intent.  Taking pleasure in the moment.  Paying attention to what is good right now.  I grab my list today and tell myself, “WALK!”  

And so I bid you in this day:

Man zou.