The exchange

What daily moments are teaching me

My chosen place for a walk today is misnamed. “Arboretum” implies an elegant interplay of gardens and trees. This is a dog park with visions of grandeur.

However, in my effort to find a daily “ordinary wonder” for my new Memory Moments journal, I have driven here as a detour on a busy day, hoping to increase my chances of finding something unique.

 

 

It has been just over a week of recording these moments. I have found it more challenging than I expected. I’m on the alert all the time. That’s not necessarily a bad thing – just exhausting. What if I don’t find one today? Is this incident worth recording? Can I draw it?

Still, at least so far, something of interest has popped up, unpredictably, each day.

Including today. As I stroll the amoeba-shaped loop of a path, I notice this grove of similar trees. Their uplifted masses of thin branches suggest sisters with wild, windswept hair.  Or perhaps they are children, leaning in toward each other, arms raised, their fingers nearly touching as they form a canopy to pass under.

I love trees in winter. Bare branches reveal the uniqueness of each species. The “sisters” are elegant. A little farther on, the “curmudgeon,” replete with walking stick, is gnarled and darkened by time.

 

 

Like winter trees, this exercise is also revealing. Actively looking for the Lord to place something worth remembering in each day unveils the lovely interaction he desires for us to have. It reminds me of the exchange in this verse:

Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.   Ps. 37:4

When we delight in him, he becomes our heart’s desire. He is the lodestone that sets a new north for our inner compass. In this dynamic, we still enjoy the delights this world offers, but within a relationship with our Creator. Every little surprise and delight of the day is seen as a gift from a loving God, and it draws us closer in as we return the gift of our gratitude.

Last time, I wrote that the first step to this fuller engagement with our surroundings is noticing. The second step is anticipation. More than simply being alert, we anticipate God’s active involvement.

Look at this tree. I’ve never seen one like it before. Its bark looks metallic, like someone made a sculpture of a tree out of copper pipes. In my reaction, I don’t need to know its classification, nor how common it is, nor who planted it. In this moment, I’m amazed by its appearance. And I receive it as a gift from the Lord.

He didn’t place it here for me to find. Nor do I think he caused me to think of this park so my path would come upon it. But in my heightened awareness – my anticipation – the ordinary wonders that he has sprinkled everywhere become moments of discovery for me.

Not only in the discovery of the moment’s treasure. I rediscover, yet again, the One who delights to draw me through these moments into his love.

How gracious you are, Father, to reward our attention, our anticipation, with these peculiar little experiences – each of them drawing us closer to you as we examine them in your loving shadow. Give us eyes to see them all the more.

Reader: have you been watching for them? Have you had any of these moments yourself?