Time to take the seatbelt off?

A few years ago I was privileged to live in perhaps the most beautiful place I have ever lived.  My home was nestled in a lovely corner of a church campground surrounded by Carolina pines overlooking two beautiful lakes.  It was not hard to take time to enjoy the simple things of life living there.

On one occasion when some of my grandchildren were visiting with me, we a loaded up in my car for a short drive over to a playground that was located on the Campground. 

As we were pulling out of the driveway I told them, “take off your seatbelts and roll down the windows.”  There was a moment of stunned silence.  From their birth, they had never ridden in a car without being strapped in and about the only time a window was rolled down was when they were going through a drive-through window at a fast food restaurant. 

Of course I would never have done this on public roads.  But being on a Campground with private roads, I wanted them to experience life as I knew it as a boy. 

Soon the car was filled with the excited voices and the laughter of little children feeling the wind blow through their hair and experiencing the joy of standing up (I know shocking!) in their seats looking out the sunroof with arms waving in the air. 

What a delightful memory.

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How long has it been since you’ve slowed down and felt the wind in your face?

How long has it been since you threw caution to the wind and did something wholesome and fun?

I’m not talking about doing something harmful, illegal, or immoral.  I’m talking about doing something truly fun and refreshing and preferably with that small circle of friends who will actually attend your funeral (and cry) when it’s your time to leave this world.

We’ve never lived in a more complex, noisy, and fast-paced world.  We’re over-regulated and under-appreciated.  Life is draining.  People are bone-tired and don’t even know it.  They’ve forgotten how to have fun and relax without a screen in their face or an earbud in their ear. 

It’s time to take the seatbelt off and roll down the window – there’s a world out there that was not made in a factory in China or Bangladesh, it originated in the mind of God for his and your pleasure.  There’s never been a better time for you to enjoy it.  And there’s probably never been a time that you needed it more.