Nags Head Woods Preserve

Jeff and I have lived here for almost five years now, and we're still discovering new places.  Today we went to the Nags Head Woods Preserve for the first time.  We were amazed!  To think that these dense woods are so close to the beach, the sound, and the highway is just so cool!  We've been driving past for all these years and had no idea they were there.  It's a beautiful place.  The trees are amazing.  With every turn in the road, we saw something new and wonderful.  There's no doubt that I found God there today.

Devotionals

Two of the devotionals I read today had the same theme.  One talked about not just sitting around and waiting for God to show up in your life.  The second was that if you're not feeling Him, it's because you've moved or changed in some way because God is constant.  Basically, they're both saying if you actively look for God, you will find Him.  It's funny, because on our walk this morning I was telling Jeff that it was starting to get difficult to write this blog (I say that quite often!); that I was worried I wouldn't be able to complete the year of daily writing that I've tasked myself with.  I said this to him before I had read these writings.  Until today I hadn't come across the same theme in these two particular devotionals.  I think it was God telling me to dig a little deeper.  And that difficult or not, if I look hard enough I will find Him - every day.  It may just be that I have to look in a different place, or in a different way.  Because He is constant even when I'm not.  I found God today in the message He sent me through my devotionals.

Cherry Chocolate Cupcake

I felt like I'd been baking, cooking, and cleaning the entire day!  I hadn't, actually, but it felt like it because I was interrupted so many times that it took me all day to finish.  Plus, I had tried a new recipe for cherry chocolate cupcakes, and I was anxious to see how they had turned out.  When I was finally done, I sat down, bit into that cupcake, and oh my.... The work was so totally worth it.  I definitely found God today in the pure bliss of that cupcake.

The Wind Chime

I was sitting here reflecting on my day and trying to figure out where I had found God.  I closed my eyes and prayed.  Meditated.  Shut out the outside world and looked inward... or tried to.  Just as I was whispering, "Lord, help me to find you..." CLANG, CLANG, CLANG!!!  It startled me out of my peace, and in the split second before I got annoyed I realized it came at the exact moment of my prayer.  There He was.  In that beautiful warm wind ringing that chime for all it was worth.  We have several wind chimes.  Most of them don't take much of a breeze to get them going.  But this one in particular looks and sounds like a buoy.  It takes a strong breeze blowing in just the right direction to make it ring, and it doesn't happen very often.  It left no doubt that He had heard my prayer.  And that is where He found me today.

The Dandelion

I saw a tiny dandelion when I started my walk today and realized I don't see many of them anymore.  When I was growing up they filled our yard.  But my dad never used weed-killer.  That would have ruined the harvest.  He used to gather the dandelion greens every spring and my mom would cook them up for dinner.  Somehow I don't remember actually seeing him do this, and it was years before I realized that the "greens" we had for dinner were the scourge of many a proud homeowner's lawn.  And I have to say when I saw them for sale at the grocery store, I laughed.  A weed!  But those weeds are awfully tasty.  (The other wild greens we loved as kids were something called "Vleeta" in greek.  Another weed that seems to grow near cornfields.  I still don't know the english word for that one.)
I looked for the rest of my walk and didn't see another dandelion until I got around to the marsh side of the block and saw a few growing next to the marsh.  One perfect flower stood out, and I had to take a picture of it.  It reminded me again that God's beauty can be found in so many ways.  In big ways like the grand, majestic scenes that I love taking pictures of.   But also in the smallest way - like this little dandelion with it's bright yellow flower and tasty, green leaves.  Weed?  Not in my book.  For I found God today in that beautiful little flower.

The Text

When I woke up this morning, I thought today was going to be an easy day.  I was wrong.  I had very little planned, but somehow the day filled up with unexpected things and became very hectic.  I still don't know where the day went.  I told Jeff I should have recorded myself throughout the day just so I could actually see what I've done!  He left for Maryland today.  In the middle of all the craziness, he sent me a text saying how much he hated having to be away from me for the next few days.  Somehow the wording of his message meant more to me on this day than just "I'll miss you".  It made me stop.  It made me smile.  It filled my heart.  And it's where I found God today.

Evelyne

One of my goals in writing this blog is to inspire others to find God in their everyday lives.  Sometimes I'm almost embarrassed to write about what I feel is going to seem insignificant to other people.  But I write it anyway, because I feel it's what God wants me to do.  In his sermon today, Father Tom spoke of weeding out our "wants" from God's "wants".  And that is why I struggle with writing about the small stuff.  Am I writing what God wants me to write about, or what I want to write about?  I do my best, and I think God is happy with that whether I'm hearing Him right or not.
But the other thing I wonder is am I spreading His word?  Am I really touching anyone - doing any good?  I have a handful a people who read this regularly - and from time to time, share their "God moments" with me - so I have to believe I am.  Today after the service, my friend, Evelyne, made me believe even more so.  She came up to me all excited and said, "I bet I know what you're going to write about," and she pointed to the gorgeous tree blooming outside the window.  Birds were flitting in and out of it - how could you not find God there?  And I did, but I found Him more somewhere else.  She was so enthusiastic about sharing with me that she got me excited too!  It rejuvenated my feelings about doing this.  She was inspired to share a "God moment" with me, and in doing so, she became one herself.  So thank you, Evelyne, for your enthusiasm and inspiration.  That is where I found God today.