Sitting around my kitchen table today, I told my two dear friends, “These last few days I just can’t seem to get my mind straight – to focus on any one thing.”
I had exercised, eaten healthy food, spent time in Scripture. Prayed. But even in prayer, my thoughts seemed less…linear. More like a silver sphere whizzing through a pinball machine.
Maybe you’ve had a day or two like that. I want to make things feel less fuzzy. I want clarity. But it’s just not there. Not yesterday. Not today.
At least I know that’s ok. Living like this from time to time is OK. It really is.
So starting yesterday, I cobbled together this post. Because even in our mental meanderings, we can often still find moments of beauty worthy of our attention. When we have eyes to see, grace and gifts are everywhere.
Here’s what I’v
e been looking at – just to appreciate them again….
Flowers. Photos of flowers, actually.
I love flowers. Many women do, of course. And none of these are around anymore. But they’re still beautiful.
Years ago, my husband started a vegetable garden in our backyard, and when he realized the things he wanted to grow just weren’t thriving there, he converted the whole bed to a cutting garden – of flowers – that bloom through the spring and summer, for me.
Tulips. Daffodils. Black-Eyed Susans. Gladiolus. And Lilies (my favorite).
All but one of these photos (the roses) are of ‘gifts’ from that bed. And the roses were a gift from the ladies with whom I study God’s Word.
I take photos of the flowers that bless my home all the time, just so that I can continue to “consider the lilies.”
Consider the lilies, how they grow:
they neither toil nor spin;
but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.
– Luke 12:27
When Jesus tells me to “Consider the lilies,” He isn’t just pointing them out. God never makes mere suggestions. He wants to me to study them.
See how they do not sweat? Notice how they do not strive? Understand…they grow toward the Light, accept the abundance and good things that come from above, and open themselves to reveal their full glory, in turn revealing the glory of their Maker. They grace the world with beauty – a divine beauty. And when their brief lives are done, they have left us with a joyful, colorful memory of God’s amazing handiwork.
In each beautiful bloom, the Lord has left me a message. And it’s about His Greater Love. And His Purpose. For me.
Not a bad thing to consider, on days when clarity is beyond me.
