– Rev. Vickie Woolard, Pastor at Plymouth UMC
I’ve been meaning to stop and check the mail at the farm for days.
I’d drive in the lane – on my way up to feed ole Roscoe and Sugar, on my way up to water plants, I’d glance over at it, and promise myself I’d stop on my way out, back to Riverneck.
We don’t get much mail up there. We get a few farm newspapers, some magazines, junk.
Some of it is still addressed to my grandma. She’s been gone from there a long time, gone from this earth for more than a dozen years.
Some of it is sent to The Old Farmer, some is simply addressed to occupants, or residents.
Most of it goes straight into our recycling bin.
But the thing is, I just haven’t had time to stop and pick it up.
I’ve been busy.
There has been a lot of paperwork to do.
Reports to submit.
So many words to read, so many words to write.
And no time to stop and check the mail.
I think I’m about to do a thing I don’t usually do—I’m going to make a resolution. Not a New Year’s resolution, but an autumnal resolution, maybe?
I am going to take more time to do things I want to do.
More time to check the mail, more time to sit outside and, just, you know, sit.
More time to be.
A friend just reminded me how much I like to laugh.
And I do.
I love to laugh.
My friend Anne, who lives out in the Piedmont, she sends me bad puns nearly every day, and I love them.
But sometimes, I confess, I let my to do list overwhelm me and I find myself moving from item to item, checking them off as I accomplish them.
And I forget to laugh.
So my autumnal resolution is just this – tomorrow, I’ll stop and empty the mailbox at the farm. I’ll keep what needs to be kept, and I’ll recycle what need to be recycled.
And I’m going to laugh.
May you, in the middle of your busy lives, take time to be.
Blessings,
Vickie
Photo by Vickie Woolard