With the weather becoming warmer I thought I'd bless my son with a treat from his school canteen for lunch. To save him some time I had the order written out and told him, as simply as possible, "You just have to take it from this front pocket of your bag and place it in the lunch order box. That's all you need to do. Do you understand? Yes?! Okay." This conversation has now occurred every morning for the past two weeks! It is so frustrating; I just want to bless him, to give him his most favourite chocolate milk drink as a way of saying, "Hey, kid, I love ya!" But as much as I want him to have this, there is still that one step that he needs to take to receive the blessing.
Yesterday morning, having gone through "the speech" once again, I watched him walking to his classroom and hoped that today would be the day that he finally 'got it' and received his treat.
"Get your camera out and go for a walk this morning."
I started the car and left to drop our youngest boy at daycare.
"Get your camera out and go for a walk this morning."
"Get your camera out and go for a walk this morning."
By the time I returned home, I knew without a doubt that this was not my mind prompting me to "Get my camera out and go for a walk this morning." I like indoors. My computer. Coffee! But I recalled my thoughts to my son from barely one hour earlier,
". . . as much as I want him to have this, there is still that one step that he needs to take to receive the blessing."
And so I did. I didn't even take my mobile phone with me! And it was such a sweet, calming, relaxing time of "aaaahhhhhhh-ness" that what I thought was, perhaps 45 minutes, was a solid 2 hours of standing beneath the trees that I look out upon every single day; talking to the galahs - privy to the courting ritual of one couple that was so delightful - looking at the ways the trees moved and the patterns in their bark; I even cheered on a baby bird as his mum and dad and aunts and uncles waited eagerly for him to leave the nest and fly!
On returning home I stopped; to smell the roses, to watch a spider spinning her web, and to play hide-and-seek with Sticky the Stick Insect. I marvelled at the abundance of life dancing in the sun's cascading warmth in my front garden.
And in all of these things, I praised our awesome God for his gift to me; this time away from my usual thoughts and actions and feelings, this gentle and most excellent display of His provision and joy and love for all creation.
And His personal, father-heart love for me - Helen - his daughter, whom he wants to bless over and over again, in ways that will draw me out of the everyday ruts and drudgeries of life, and fill me to overflowing with his beauty once again.
May you, too, be blessed by our Father God in a big way, by the small things of everyday life.
Helen
Helen, how lovely for you to experience the joy and blessing of the moment as a result of your obedience to God's gentle prompting. Outside my study window, purple agapanthus have burst into flower and a gentle breeze is rocking the greenery. I've been so busy at the computer this morning, updating records and completing other bookwork that I would not have taken the moment to enjoy that blessing had it not been for your prompting. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Helen. A good lesson for me too to take time out to enjoy nature and 'smell the roses'. God bless!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful post Helen. Thank you. Thank you that in listening to your Father's promptings you blessed us too by those beautiful pictures and beautiful thoughts. I am going through a tough season right now but have been reminded by God that there are wonderful blessings in every season if we but look for them. Thanks for adding to that. Yes, I shall look for them, find them and exult in our amazing Father's care of us. He does bless us big time. Loved your photography as well as your writing. Bless you.
ReplyDeleteI love long rambling walks like which always become longer for me as I get caught up taking photos of the different textures and beauty in the small things of life. Our God is indeed an creative artist, extravagant in giving us His blessings in so many different ways. Thanks for the reminder Helen.
ReplyDeleteThanks Helen. That was a great reminder. God has blessed us with so many things, but it's easy to get caught up in the busyness of life and not even see the blessings around us. I've started going for bike rides early in the morning and I see lots of animals on the way - mainly farm animals, but also wallabies if I take the time to stop and look for them in a few particular spots. I always feel a lot more relaxed after doing that and God's also given me ideas for devotions when I've taken the time to really look at his creation . Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Helen. Very important to stop and appreciate all we have been given by God.
ReplyDeleteHi Helen,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you managed to find a bit of time to get out and enjoy our wonderful spring weather. Great for the soul. And I hope your son got his treat.