Are You Oblivious?

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. ~ Psalm 19:1

Elijah's view

How is it we can be smack-dab in the middle of something beautiful and completely unaware? I'd been oblivious to God wooing me with His creation lately until others pointed it out.

Last weekend my daughter’s boyfriend, Elijah, came to visit. This Oregon boy has been to our home on the farm in South Carolina numerous times, but that afternoon he noticed something that, until then, had escaped my attention. “Wow!” he said as he looked over the expanse of our property. “This place is absolutely beautiful! I’ve never seen these trees with leaves on them before.” At first I was surprised by his comment. After all, this certainly wasn't his first time seeing our backyard. Then, I realized it was his first time seeing it in the spring, since he only just started coming around last fall.

I’d been busily preparing for a party all week, but for the first time stopped and looked up. He was right. We were surrounded by the bursting forth of spring in the lush foliage and beautiful blue sky whose sun was glinting off the lake below. I allowed myself to take it all in for a moment before advising him to enjoy it now, since the green would turn hard and brown when summer came. As soon as those sarcastic words escaped my lips I felt convicted. Why did I give a grave prediction instead of soaking up the flourishing attraction in my own backyard? 

Elijah's view 

I realized then how often I'd been looking down at my to-do list and inward toward negative thinking instead of looking up at the beauty and out towards the people around me. It’s amazing how daily demands and negative thoughts keep us from experiencing the potential joy around us.

Later that week, I’d ordered a pizza to be delivered to our home. When the doorbell rang, I ran to greet the girl holding our dinner and she immediately commented on our great view of the sunset from the front porch. I hadn’t noticed lately. But she was right. When I looked beyond her over the pasture, the sky was aglow as if God had taken His paintbrush and created a watercolor of pinks, reds and purples just for our delight. But I’d been missing out on this treat lately because the tyranny of the urgent had taken over my evenings.

Sunset view from our front porch

When we first built our home on the farm twelve years ago, a friend of mine commented every time she visited we needed to call it the Big Sky Farm. She loved taking in the allure of God’s handiwork we had planted ourselves right in the middle of. I guess those years have dulled my senses to our surroundings. But I’m intent on gazing at it with fresh eyes again. I want to see the country as I used to, in awe of the nature encircling me.

As I was having my prayer time this week, I looked out over the sun dancing across the waves of the lake and was overwhelmed. At that moment, basking in the beauty of His creation, I was blessed by the Holy Spirit because I’d taken the time to be still in His presence. The majesty of God is revealed everywhere if we’ll stop long enough to drink it in.

The view of the lake from my prayer spot

Have you been too busy lately to look up and delight yourself in the beauty of God’s handiwork? If so, stop now and take it all in. You may be surprised by joy!

Is Your Sink Overflowing?

     Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. ~ Philippians 4:6-7  

     

     

     I don’t know about you, but I’m absolutely frazzled to the max right now. You’d think with Christmas behind us and all of the decorations put away life would have settled down. But it seems there’s always something to take its place, something to keep me in a constant state of anxiety.

     

     

     As I was thinking about all that needed to be done, I was reminded of something that happened several years ago. I was rushing around trying to get everything done before I left with the kids for an appointment. As I ran through all of my chores, trying to do several things at once, I decided I needed to wash out my bathing suit. I’d let it soak until I got home and then rinse it out. As I started running water in the sink, I made a fateful choice to start a load of laundry before I walked out the door.

     You can probably guess what happened next.

     I got a call from my husband several hours later asking WHO left the water running in the laundry room. I shrieked when I realized I’d never turned it off. As a result my husband walked into water rushing out the back door when he came home from work. I thought I was going to be sick.

     My patient hubby cleaned up all of the water before I got home, but the damage had already been done. Water had flowed into the air vents in the laundry room and bathroom, and warped the hardwood in the dining room which sits directly behind the laundry room wall. I despaired, but my husband got busy seeking professional help.

     He asked a friend in the heating and air business to come and take a look at our vents. After careful inspection, he determined 

there was no damage and we didn’t need to do anything. Whew!

     Then he called a contractor friend who’d helped build our house and asked about the hardwood. Having experienced something like this before himself, he said to wait it out, the wood would eventually dry out and settle down to its original shape. He emphasized the fact we would need to be patient because it could take up to two or three months for this to happen. Ouch!

     But you know what? Both of those contractors were right. They looked at the situation and gave their expert advice as to what we needed to do and the answer was nothing. All we had to do was wait.

     Now, waiting is not one of my spiritual gifts. During the time we were waiting for the floors to regain their original shape I was a little anxious, wondering how much it would cost for us to have those floors redone. The thought continually running through my head was, how could you be so stupid, Carol?

     But it wasn’t stupidity that put me in this predicament; it was busyness. I rushed through my morning wondering how I was going to get everything done, while God waited for some alone time with me. Obviously it never happened.

     Maybe if I’d taken the time to be still and wait on Him my mind wouldn’t have been so distracted and I would have had the presence of mind enough to remember to turn the faucet off. Maybe. I know God doesn’t guarantee we won’t have problems in this life, but if I gave Him a chance more often, maybe my life would run more smoothly.

     In the end He took care of everything. The floors became straight and smooth again and the air conditioner didn’t give us any trouble. Again, all I had to do was wait and trust. He had it all under control.

     Today as I look over everything that needs to be done, I feel more at peace. Why? Because I got up this morning and gave God priority. I’m trusting He will take control of the situation and keep my spirit at peace so I can face my husband with a smile tonight instead of a complaining spirit, as I’ve done every other night this week.

    

     Is your to-do list out of control? Do you feel as if you’ll lose it if someone asks you to do one more thing? Give it to God and see how He can take your worries and turn them into victories.

     Thank you for leaving your comments last week and entering the contest for Ann Voscamp’s book, One Thousand Gifts. The winner, chosen by random.org, is Margie Houmes! Please send me your address via fb message and I’ll get your book to you as quickly as possible. Congratualtions Margie!