Ah, The Great Outdoors!

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…

Photo by Cindy West McGregor