I’m going to share with you one of my personal medical flaws.  I have a nystagmus in both of my eyes.  No, no, no I don’t mean to say that I have an astigmatism.  An astigmatism is a common eye problem that makes your vision blurry or distorted because your eye is not perfectly round.  I have a nystagmus:  Nystagmus is rapid, uncontrollable eye movements. If you have nystagmus, your eyes may move up and down, side to side or in a circular motion.  My eyes move in a circular motion.  Oh, it’s subtle and you can’t see it unless you really look me in the eye, and you will see my pupils quivering in a circular motion.  Both eyes will twist like knobs, back and forth, back and forth.  I guess I’ve compensated or grown used to it over the years.  Sometimes it’s worse than at other times.  At work I often have to enter patient chart information into the computer and it will include the lot number of an implant – usually a long number.  I am already challenged by the tiny print of the number on the sticker, but if it is a number with lots of zeroes … oh dear.  You see, the number shakes and I can’t tell how many zeroes there are.  Is it 1700056 or 170056?  I have to cover the number with my finger and slowly move right to reveal each number, one at a time.  My co-workers around me probably think I am the old nurse quickly going blind.  If my eyes would only hold still!

Hold still!

At my work, we get many babies and toddlers who are there to get tubes put into their ears; a common fix for frequent ear infections.  Before their surgery, we need to get some vitals on them.  Do you think those sweet kiddos hold still?  Hardly!  As they twist and turn, we try to put a pulse oximeter on their finger or take a quick blood pressure, all while they squirm or gaily pull the monitor off and hand it back to us.  Ahh, if they would only hold still!

It made me think.

In the middle of a sewing project or an Ikea furniture construct, have you been like, “…whoa …. Let’s stop and back it up.  What did the instructions say to do again?”

Did you go to college for a certain career plan, then find yourself one day putting on the brakes …. Stopping ….. pushing the pause button …. And regrouping to change paths and start in another career direction?

Have you had a day with wild, crazy kids who have gotten a bit too crazy and just won’t calm down and listen?  You shout to get their attention and make everyone STOP so they will finally look at you and listen.

Have you gone through a day, a week, or season in your life where you have never stopped to smell the roses?  … to reflect and count your blessings? … to take stock and figure out what’s next?  … to rest?

Most people are familiar with the 23^rd Psalm:  “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, He refreshes my soul.  He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.”  Notice how it says that He MAKES ME lie down?  God knows when we need rest, when we need to pause, when we need to hold still.  But God doesn’t leave us to find our own way, He LEADS me and He REFRESHES me. 

I know y’all are busy with work and life and kids and home and family who need you and friends who want more time.  Just be sure to sometimes HOLD STILL.  Stop what you are doing every now and then to exhale, thank God for the blessings, and just enjoy the moment.  Reevaluate and then carry on.  We all need those little breaks and pauses to hear what our spouse is really saying, to figure out what is broken, to understand the reason for the quarreling kids, to stop being so busy, to rest, or to surrender to what God is trying to tell us.

Psalm 46:10  Be still and know that I am God.

In this busy, spinning world, I hope you take the time to occasionally HOLD STILL.  Push the pause button.  Make things hold still so you can count the zeroes! 

Be still.

Just Laurel