Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
Psalm 119:18
Our to-do list on our new homestead has yet to get shorter. I was pretty naïve to underestimate the time and difficulties involved to start a new lifestyle in our forties with four young children. In the midst of house-fixing, homeschooling, mobile baby’s explorations, cooking from scratch, and other commitments, it’s easy for me to focus on the task rather than the beauty around me. It takes time and intentionality to slow down, to observe, to ponder and to change. The devil is very good at taking wandering souls as captives if we are not grounded in the truth.
Thankfully, our good Shepherd is very patient with us. He guides us, leads us, and provides everything we need as we navigate Christian living on earth. I am learning to embrace His laws as protections rather than limitations. I am experiencing more of His grace as I fail to follow the laws. He knows, He sees… What a comfort!
Busy life has its way to teach me to seize the moment, find new rhythms and glorious purposes in daily mundane. The demands of life have been pressing me to establish firmer boundaries and to create necessary routines for this season of life. One of those routines is to be intentional to have some one-on-one time with each child each month on their special days (the day of their birth). I am a firm believer in accumulation effect. Little things add up, good or bad. So far, I am grateful for keeping “the special day” tradition.
Normally, the boys were out with the animals in the morning. On “special day” this week, I came out with the “special child” to do some outside work together. Nothing fancy or big, just a reminder for me to slow down a little bit from normal routines. I suggested walking a loop around the yard before we headed into the house. I am so glad we did!
As we started walking, this observant boy stopped and just stared. I looked around and wondered what was the matter. Even though I desired to slow down, I was so quick to get anxious when things were not moving as fast as I would like to. I saw quite a few “white toilet paper balls” around. A frustration started to surface and I was about to burst out in anger. Yard junk has been accumulating as well! I am not happy about this kind of accumulation and tried to keep the yard-cleaning on the backburner. There is enough to do in the house or around the house already. I don’t go further back on our property often, so out of sight, out of mind.
But at the sight of the “ugly toilet paper balls”, my mind was racing. This was not supposed to be a moment for discipline talk. A gentle small voice inside reminded me to wait on the “junk” talk.
By God’s grace, I held my tongue and waited for an answer from my boy. Quite to my surprise, he said, “I saw something beautiful!”
“What did you see?” I was in dismay.
“Flowers!”
“Flowers?!” It’s getting weirder and weirder. It was already early winter in December. The leaves were all gone.
“Yes! I read about them in the magazine. They are something special here!”
Thank God for holding my tongue! My ignorance and short-temper were not exposed, and His grace abounds even more.
My boy continued to tell me more about the “frost flowers”. I bent down and picked a few. They looked like cotton candy and would melt after a while, especially if I would rub them in my hands. It felt miraculous! I almost missed them. Even worse, I was angry with them. How foolish I was!
I looked up the “flowers” afterwards and appreciated this special encounter with my special one even more. “Even experienced nature explorers have never seen frost flowers. This is because you have to be in the right place at the right time.” (You can read more about frost flowers here.)
I will add that I am particularly in need of the right person with the right eyes to see the beauty. How many more wonders around me have I missed or mis-judged? Lord, have mercy on me! Open my eyes, so I may see the wonderful things of your law! Most importantly, Lord, open my eyes, so I may see YOU! Isn’t Wonder your name? (Isaiah 9:6)
3rd Culture Living 