Slow Down!!!!!!

I have an old Lionel train. The train is almost 80 years old. My dad got it for me for my first Christmas when I was five months old. No I'm not 80, I will be 64 next month. When I was born it was a custom for fathers to give their firstborn sons a model train. Lionel was the main maker of trains at that time, so my dad got me a Lionel train. He did not have a lot of money so he got a me use one. We had a lot of fun with that train. We set it up every Christmas around the Christmas tree. For about three weeks every year between my five sisters and two brothers we really abuse that poor train. We liked to see how fast we could get the train going. The problem was the train got going so fast that we lost control and then the train would fly off the tracks and crash. We thought that was fun. We did that over and over. The last time the train crashed the cow catcher or pilot fell off the front of the locomotive. If you don't know what a cow catcher or pilot is I will tell you. It is a steel structure it was shaped like a “V” and put on the front of a locomotive right down near the tracks. It was there so that the cow catcher or pilot would hit anything that was on the track and throw it off to the side. It did that to keep the locomotive from derailing, and it was very successful.

The other thing we did with the train. We used to have a manger scene that sat under our Christmas tree. There was a cow in that manger scene. We named the cow Moomoo. We used to put Moomoo on the tracks and run the train into Moomoo and watch her fly off the tracks. With all that abuse we gave that poor train it is a miracle the train is still running, but it is. That train is my pride and joy.

Do you remember riding bicycles? Do you remember seeing how fast you could go on your bicycle? Do you remember what happened when you got going too fast? You lost control and then you crashed just like my train used to do. It is the same thing in life.

In this fast-paced society we live in today there are just so much we want to do we have to go at top speed all the time in order to get it done. We get going faster and faster until we start losing control. When we start losing control we have two choices. We can either keep going the way we are going and we will end up crashing and we will probably get hurt. Or we can stop and take a look at everything we are doing, and decide what stuff we can give up so we can get our life under control again. They say the average person needs about eight hours of sleep a day, I wonder how many people actually get that much.

We need to take time every day for two things. First we need to take time to pray. Not long flowery prayers. I don't think they are necessary. God knows what your needs are even before you ask for them. So if you just say a short prayer, maybe something like “God, I need help please help me.” I think that would be sufficient.

Do you like it when people say thank you for something you did? I think God likes it to. I think you should remember to thank God sometimes too. Every night before I go to bed I say little prayer it goes like this “Father thank you for all you have given me. Please father take care of all my friends and family you know what they mean to me.” Just to let you know I don't have a lot of money I don't have a lot of things I'm not rich the way most people think of being rich. I am very rich in God's blessing . He has blessed me so many times over the years it just amazes me. So I just have to continually thank God for all the things he is given to me.

You also need to just stop and listen. God not only wants to hear from you but he wants to talk to you. God does not want to interrupt your life. He will only talk to you when you're ready to listen.

You also need to take time every day for you. You need to turn off the TV, iPad, computer, video games and the cell phone. Just sit quietly and relax and let your whole body slow down. Every night before I go to bed I will read for about an hour to an hour and a half. I find that I sleep better if I take the time to let my body relaxed completely before I go to bed.

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