A couple of days ago, Little Man and I had the opportunity to visit a local amusement park. We went in the afternoon in hopes of seeing the night parade. We were prepared....had a plan...even added an umbrella and rain slicker to our bag of goodies "just in case."
Thirty minutes after our arrival at said park -- the proverbial bottom dropped out of the sky. I am not talking just a drizzle but a full-on downpour. My typical response would have been to turn and head back to the car to salvage what was left of the day. Instead, we donned the rain slickers. I turned to my son and said "what do you want to do?" He looked at me with his face ever-so-slightly peeking out of his head covering and said "let's just walk around." Well, for those that know me -- I am more the "wait it out" kind of girl but that day I threw caution to the wind, pulled up the hood on my newly minted rain poncho and did just as the young master had instructed -- we started to "walk around."
At this point, the street that only minutes earlier was packed with people, was now a virtual open highway for me and my stroller riding friend to explore. So, as others were crouched under eaves, standing in doorways or mulling inside the stores -- Little Man I headed down the middle of the street. I am sure folks were looking at us -- well they had to -- we were kind of the only thing to look at other than the rain -- but anyway they were looking at us and thinking "what are they nuts???"
Nuts or not, we proceeded down our normal path but something funny happened. When we came to our routine stopping place for our first ride, Little Man wanted to keep going. So, keep going is what we did. That day, we put aside our normal check list and we began to see things in the park that we never paid attention prior. We are fortunate to be able to visit on a frequent basis so we already know which way to go and when to get there in order to hit all the places on our "to do" list. As we walked that day, we tried new rides, came across a restaurant we didn't know existed (and the food was pretty good), and found a new favorite dessert - -all because we "just walked around."
That day got me to thinking. How often in the busyness of life and making sure I mark everything off on my agenda, do I miss out on "blessings?" How often do I take for granted what is around me all the time? How often do I miss the joy of something new in order to search for the routine.
As I reflected on God. I realized that humans have been doing this for as long as we've been around. Adam and Even were so intent on having it all that they didn't realize what they had was paradise - the place all of us yearn to be. The Israelites lost focus on the fact that God was with them with the Ark of the Covenant and began to focus on what the ark itself could do for them -- not the fact that they were in the very presence of God. The disciples didn't realize that Jesus was fully God walking and talking with them daily until He was gone.
We all get busy, often times too busy. Yes, we all have responsibilities and things that "have to be done" yet we still can take time to enjoy the everyday blessings God has out there for us. Sometimes, they are found in the small things like new desserts and unbeaten paths and other times, they can be found in spending a little time in the Word and communing with the Creator of the Universe and of all time.
- Have you taken time to slow down and truly enjoy everything around you?
- Is your "to do" list keeping you from seeing and experiencing God -- even in Ministry?
- Pray that the Lord will open your eyes to see the blessings He has for you - encouragement in the little things.
