The household woke up disappointed, our hopes dashed when the Seahawks lost the Super Bowl last night in what seemed the worst possible way. The Hawks were within one yard of scoring a TD on the Patriots in the last minute of the game, only to have the ball intercepted by a nimble and perfectly-positioned Patriot defensive back. Because of family allegiances, we were really excited for the Hawks, and the stunned silence we fell into those last few seconds of the game persisted into today.
Sometimes when you wake up in a ‘blah’ mood, it can be hard to shake it. Especially when the morning is a gray and rainy one, like today was. And when your daughter is fitted with orthodontia at 9 a.m., and decides this is going to be one of the worst things that’s ever happened to her, the day starts to roll downhill a bit faster.
These are caviar problems, for sure. But still. Don’t we all do this? Be in a ‘yuck’ mood just because?
So, my funk is exacerbated by having felt a little far away from God the last few days. That, and the headache I’ve started. I rub my forehead while I sit in the car line, which has backed up onto the tiny street behind my kids’ school.
‘I should have left the house 5 minutes earlier and I wouldn’t be so far back on the street. Punctuality. I’m still failing there.’
It would be easy to continue berating myself, but instead, I offer up this thought.
‘I want to hear You. To see You.’
A moment or two later, I look to my left. Directly to my left. And I see this:
Four purple flowering cabbages. Brassica oleracea. Someone took the time to plant this burst of color in a narrow strip of dirt between an old brick driveway and an even older adjacent Colonial-era home. Who but the person who gets into that car ever sees them? And yet, there they are on this cold, February day.
I sit and stare, because I have been driving this street every school day for 7 years, and I have never noticed this small piece of earth, that has always held the potential to grace my day.
“You will seek Me and find Me
when you search for Me with all your heart.”
– Jeremiah 29:13
