Chick-Chat: "Distractions - The Prequel"

Chick-Chat: "Distractions, the Prequel"
I posted earlier about how sometimes God provides good distractions. Those meant to take my mind off me and my own struggles, to focus on how He is working around me and how that can be just the best blessing and picture of Him and who He is. The more I've thought about this, the more I kept going back in my mind to a much simpler time in my life...
(ok, this is where you should now hear that typical dream sequence music from every t.v. show and movie you've ever seen)
See that young girl over there? The one who's bending over that dandelion so intently examining each little tiny petal in her flip flops and shorts? She sees how each delicate petal tucks so tightly under the next ring of them, and marvels at how they look like hundreds of flowers in one!
See the other little girl, the one with the magnifying glass? Looking at the caterpillar she caught earlier? She's watching it undulate and wrinkle in on its self like many tiny waves meeting and moving apart as it crawls around slowly on the leaf she's holding in the other hand.
What about the girl who's lying in her back with her best friend? They're both wearing pink shirts (they like to wear the same colors on the same day because they've been best friends since they were in kindergarten, and its Pink Thursday after all). They lay there, head to head, looking at the clouds drifting by in ever changing shapes, deciding what each sees in them - a flower, a bunny, a mans head, a football, a bird...
We all handle it differently and we've dealt with it for longer than we think.
Picture yourself as one of the girls above. Those girls also have something they were waiting to do. One may have been waiting on mom to call her home for dinner. One may be waiting until the time her friend who lives down the street said to come over and play, once she was done helping her sister do chores. Or maybe waiting on her dad to finish whatever he was doing in the garage to come take her for a bike ride. Maybe the two picking shapes in the clouds were simply just waiting to grow up so their life could begin :)
We wait on that much needed job, on the kids to behave, on friends to stop making bad decisions and just listen to us already, for that future spouse to show up, or pop the question, maybe just for a chance to live out the dream you have been chasing for years, for that new way God will finally begin to use you again for His glory...
I used to be those girls, but I got older. And I had trouble waiting without getting anxious, fretting, getting impatient and trying to rush God's hand.
Psalm 52:8-9
8 But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.
9 For what you have done I will always praise you in the presence of your faithful people. And I will hope in your name, for your name is good.

So we should actually flourish, grow, and praise Him in the waiting – find hope in the waiting!

I remember being those girls, lazily distracted by the good things God provided because I was much more eager to see them then, to look for them. I still had enough child like wonder in me to seek them out even.
I have decided that’s how I should wait now. Like a child!
Because I think when I look at how much care He takes placing things around me for my pleasure, for my glimpses of Him, and yes my distractions from worry, I see how much He loves me.
Gods incredible creations are meant to perplex, amaze and baffle me!
So next time I'm getting impatient maybe I'll stop at a nursery or greenhouse and start choosing some flowers I may want to try my hand at planting in window boxes this Spring.
If you know me at all you know I won't be looking for creepy crawly things to look at to say wow look at what my God did - BUT I just may take a few hours at the zoo watching the lumbering mammoth elephants and the quick curious twitchy prairie dogs and see what His hand truly has done, and enjoy a nice walk at the same time.
And I just may find a spot in my own front yard the next time I'm feeling anxious, lay on a warm blanket, relax, and see what boats, planes, fish, and ducks I can find in the clouds.

But I'm thinking to really set the stage for connecting with that young girl I should first find a park with swings and see how high I can fly!

Marisa Lykins