“Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him.”
Ephesians 4:18
There’s no grump like a report card grump.
Jaw clenched. Eyes on screen. Toes curled with determination. Body rigid. Mind completely consumed with one thought.
Get.
Finished.
Which is why a hubby returning fresh from a fishing expedition and calling you to come outside is an unwelcome thing.
Hubby: “You need to come with me.”
Me: “Fjtbrifjnfjdn.”
Hubby: “No, really – you should come.”
Me: *varying species of growls, groans, and harrumphs*
Hubby: “You can finish that later. This can’t wait.”
Me: *stirs in chair and struggles to rise, all feeling gone from backside*
How long have I been at this? I’ve gone numb.
Also me: *gets dressed to go outside with a bad attitude*
And then – wow.
Just wow.
We watched for an hour – green ribbons of light, dancing in waves, now fading, now with a tinge of pink, now a striped rainbow and then double ribbons and then one, a wondrous after dinner show.
Hubby had brought popcorn. It really couldn’t have been better.
And I’d have missed it…
See, God is everywhere. In the sky. You can see His fingerprints all over those Northern Lights. In the stars, a twinkling backdrop for the mysterious dancing display.
In the love of a man who would risk being bitten by his mate to make sure she got to see God before she went to bed…
Life comes with – pressures. Deadlines. Obligations. Diagnoses. Somehow we gotta eat like, every single day, so food prep is a biggie. And in the midst of living the one life God gave me, I can get so tangled and focused on the to do list and the dark that I just might miss out on chasing the light.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Those report cards need to get finished.
But taking time to experience my Maker?
Time well ‘wasted’, for sure.
I think when we remember to live, to breathe, to take breaks, to carve out a hard-fought balance between the obligation and the holy, we find it.
Life.
It’s the deadlines and the hard bits that close my mind and heart to the reality of God’s care and peace and provision. But it’s chasing the Light that centres me and brings me back home.
Open your mind and heart to God’s light with me?
Father, You are evident everywhere – and I get busy and forget to watch for You! Remind me of how close You are, and how much You want to impact and change and delight and bless me. Amen.
Growing in Grace 