The Journey Begins

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

Everyday moments can race past us, jumble into the “noise” of life, or even lead us to our next step and next choices. Not always the wises steps or choices, but still our own. But they can also cause us to stop and observe with as many senses as possible, all that they hold.

Too many times, I succumb to the racing and noise, missing so many God given moments that I can’t begin to count them. Other times I don’t connect enough to make the wisest of choices or take the most ordered steps. But those times that my “Ah-Ha” radar are up…..well, those are THE most important moments because God has captured my attention. Rather, maybe I am the one that has stopped or listened or responded strongly enough that I have made the connection God was longing for in the first place.

It can be walking to the kitchen window to pour more coffee and a bird’s movements or stillness capture my attention. I find myself thinking about that bird and its movements, then realizing that it would have continued with its activities whether I was standing there or not. It would find the bug or berry it was searching for and flown to the nearby tree with or without me looking out that window.

It can be sitting on my deck or dock overlooking the Albemarle Sound and seeing a boat off in the distance. It isn’t there for me to see, it is there with the purpose of traveling from point A to point B in whatever activity the people on board had in mind…..fishing, crabbing, tubing, letting wind whip through their hair, or maybe headed to a destination that was the whole point in the first place. But I find myself watching the movement and imagining their course and purpose. I marvel at the ability to travel the waters skillfully.

It can be driving to a destination in my daily errands and noticing a newly budded or colorful tree. I know the tree will continue to grow and bloom and I won’t see clearly every single day’s growth, but I will notice the changes from time to time. I remind myself to look for the red buds on trees in spring, the changing colors of leaves in fall, the twists of branches reaching to the snow falling, the swaying of the pines in the blustery winds.

It can be reading a book, one of my favorite activities. Lost in the story, or maybe I should say absorbed in the story, I find that moment when a connection is made to my own life or an event I’ve experienced or am anticipating and my awareness takes on a new meaning. I stop long enough to appreciate what the writer has done to take me on this journey and I think about the connections of the characters one to the other.

It can be the sound of a baby with that little snuggling noise or wiggling coo, or even the crying. It can connect me to my own children’s lives, to my grandchildren’s infancy, and to the joys I know ahead for the family. It brings a longing, not for more babies of my own of course, but for that moment when a baby snuggles in under your chin and all feels right with the world.

I thank God that he slows me down…..opens my senses…..and provides me countless God moments to enrich my daily journey and to remind me to be grateful for all my joys and blessings. And if the hair on my arms or back of my neck quiver at the connection, I say an extra thank you for how deeply I can feel God’s presence in those everyday moments.