Last Saturday we went out
with some of the other missionaries to show them a local restaurant that we
really like. This place is definitely not fancy but it serves an especially
delicious northern Thai curry called gaaeng hang laeh muu. It’s the sort of
dish that we never need a big portion of because the flavours are so intensely
deep and rich that one small serve shared between two people provides enough
taste to linger in your mouth and remind you of how satisfying it was for the
next few hours. We never leave feeling bloated or too full but {I’m not
exaggerating} hours later we can still be heard uttering, “That curry was so
delicious!”
I appreciate this dish all
the more since trying to make it myself a few times. It’s quite an effort with
a long list of ingredients combining spices and being slow-cooked for a
substantial amount of time, to release a wonderfully subtle combination of all
the flavours.
When made correctly…
seriously! There are no words!
This past December, I looked
at our calendar with all the upcoming events that our family had either been
invited to or were asked to be a part of through work, school, friendships,
church and extra curricular activities. It was a lot.
Granted, I am an introvert
but I really started to feel overwhelmed by it all. The most difficult part was
that when I sat down to look at what each thing was {in order to cut a few
things out} I was surprised to notice that they were all really ‘good’
things. Not one of the things, in isolation, was a waste of time, unnecessary
or seemed unenjoyable, but all of them together… was simply too much.
I was explaining to a friend
how I don’t like to get to the end of a busy week packed with ‘good’ things and
not even be able to remember what I did a few days earlier. After an
event I want to ‘savor’ it and make space to ‘digest’ it within our
family. I want to give my heart time to respond and to block out the
noises that so often deafen me from hearing what it was I needed to learn
through each experience.
I have come to appreciate the
beauty of the Thai culture that really stops and sits
to eat together and in contrast I feel saddened by the western ‘drive-through’
influence - where food is consumed on-the-way-to wherever… while rushing to the
“next thing”.
Having time to “chew on”,
“mull over” and reflectively appreciate the moments in life - just like that
curry - has become so much more appealing to me than the all-you-can-eat buffet
of an overcrowded life. The buffet, from a distance, may
aesthetically seem more appealing but soon enough you’re left feeling so full,
you can’t even remember the first thing you ate. There is nothing wrong with
the individual dishes, they’re all delicious, but later the flavours have all
mixed into one and the satisfaction that you thought you might have by the end
is tainted by the bloated feelings that leave you feeling like you never want
to eat again!
For parents, how do we then
help to navigate our children through this “buffet” style-of life, guiding them
as they grow up with all-you-can-eat opportunities? How do we effectively and
deliberately model a reflective and sensitive approach to life?
I believe that it is
something that we must fight to do ourselves first in order to model it to our
children. If I can’t insert “pauses” into my own life that allow me
to joyfully experience and reflectively savour the tastes of my day and week,
then how can I direct my children faced with every distraction and opportunity
laid before them to be able to do the same? How can I teach my kids
that yes, the buffet may all look good, but that does not mean it must all be
consumed?
Recently, I shared that my
word for 2018 was “PAUSE”.
I want to pause in order to remember these days
that fly by so quickly.
I need to pause to give my best yes … and a careful
no.
I choose to pause to give thanks.
I must pause before I speak in anger, judgment, or
criticism.
I will pause to say I’m sorry.
I desire to pause to dwell on God’s goodness and
mercy.
In an environment where
smorgasbords abound and they all look so appealing, it can be hard for all of
us to say no to opportunities, invitations and new ideas. But when
we become too busy {even doing good things} we crowd out our ability to ‘pause’
and hear God’s voice and we miss out on the intensely deep and rich moments in
life.
I guess, as the saying goes,
sometimes less is more.
1 comment:
Thanks Andrea for yet another very thought-provoking post. It certainly has had the desired affect on this smorgasbord dad! A definite 'pause' to sit and reflect. xo
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