It was a perfect day out on the patio. The weather was just right, sun shining,
sweet little breezes, the goldfish in the pond were happy, the birds were
singing joyously.
So I decided to use the iBird app on my phone to see if
the birds would react to the birdcalls.
I had done this before when we were camping, and it was great fun. I doubt it really mattered to the birds, but
we enjoyed it.
I finally found the app, waited for it to load, went to
the goldfinch page, hit the “song” button and…
nothing happened. Nothing
happened!
I get so frustrated with computer things that don’t
work right. I messed with that thing,
trying this and that, but I could not get it to work. None of the birdsongs I tried would
work. What’s the big idea, selling me an
app that works a few times and then quits?
I’ll try it again.
Maybe it will work if I turn it off and then turn it on again. That takes about 5 minutes because the app is
so large, but in the meantime I can try to think of a way to get it to work.
I was sitting in my beloved outdoor recliner, my
ubiquitous tea at my side, phone in hand.
I was talking to myself, getting more and more agitated as the phone
moved slowly along in the only way it knows how.
I had my head down, thinking of ways to outsmart it
when it dawned on me that I was missing the whole point. And I was literally missing the gorgeous
afternoon on the patio. In my weak attempt
to force my phone to do something it was clearly unwilling to do, I had
completely blocked out my surroundings, including the very reason I was there
at all.
I had come out on my patio to watch the birds and
butterflies, keep an eye out for a hummingbird, listen to the birds as they called back and forth and… well, you
get the idea.
It made me wonder how many things I was missing by
keeping my head down instead of up, facing the good Lord and enjoying His love
and peace.
Just like that perfect afternoon setting in my
backyard, God’s love is all around us, given to us in little gifts as we go
about our day. He gave me that wonderful
afternoon to enjoy. I certainly didn’t
deserve it. In fact, I was trying to kill it!
Thank God (and I mean that literally) I realized what I was doing before
it was too late and the time slipped away into darkness.
It really should be the first thing that comes to mind
when something touches my spirit – “This is a gift from God!” A friend’s thoughtfulness, a sweet smile from
a stranger, a warm cat curled up in your lap, the satisfaction that comes with
something well done – His gifts are endless.
Let’s watch for them, be ready to identify them, and
praise God for them. He loves it when we
do that…
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| Photo by Cindy West McGregor |
