Vol. 19 No. 11 | March 12, 2017
I look up and gaze out the library window. A toddler and her mom are walking, well sort of walking, in the late afternoon sunshine. The toddler is preoccupied with the blooms on the wildflowers, the bright green blades of grass, and the sticks that are all but invisible to her mother. A gentle tug of war takes place, the mother finally winning the battle of wills. And off they go to their very important destination.
Another toddler, this one a curly, blond-headed boy, drops to the ground refusing to take another step. There are flowers to explore. He pulls off the purplish bloom with his little hand and claims it as his own. He got it, and not a second too early. His mother takes him by the arm with loving authority and leads him on to their very important destination.
Apparently there is a toddler’s or ‘mother-of-toddler’s’ gathering happening nearby. Whatever the case, the mothers are certainly more concerned about making it to the event than the little ones are.
Sometimes I see a bit of myself in those mothers.
Like the mothers, I often find myself fixated solely on getting to my very important destination. And time is of the essence. Traffic delays frustrate me. Red lights irritate me. Green left-turn lights that only stay green long enough for the four cars in front me to get through are the absolute worst! I don’t have time for such inconveniences. We are losing daylight here.
The gray-hair in front of me is clearly oblivious to how busy I am and how important my time is. The confused out-of-town driver should surely know better than to get in my lane. The teenager, the grandmother, or that well-dressed businessman need to all get off their phones and focus on getting through the light!
Outside, I appear calm and in control. Underneath, I am so anxious and stressed out that I see nothing but the clock on the dash ticking the minutes away. No time for chitchat. No time to connect with friends and family.
No time to stop and pick those purple flowers in bloom.
When I, like those mothers, am hurrying about, checking of my list of my very important to-dos, I feel good about what I have accomplished throughout the day. But then sometimes I wonder what I missed along the way.
And then sometimes I see myself in those toddlers.
As ‘the toddler’, I am relaxed and calm and in the moment. I cannot understand why that guy behind me feels compelled to ride my bumper. I shake my head in amazement as the driver in front of my speeds up to get through the yellow light that he knows is going to be red by the time he gets to the intersection!
When I see the world as the toddler, I not only want to pick the purple flowers, but also the jonquils. I want to stop and take pictures of the way the sun is reflecting off the water and pause with amazement as the sky turns from blue to red to pink to purple. On those days, even dandelions can have a certain beauty…although I have to really be in a childlike state of mind for that to happen.
When I toddle along, I find great delight in what I have seen and experienced throughout the day. But sometimes I wonder what I could and should have done to be more productive.
I see God in those toddlers.
Pausing. Seeing. Exploring. Urging me to stop and take it all in. Challenging me to just be, relish in the moment, and do nothing but reflect on all the beauty that God has created.
But I also see God in those mothers.
Pushing. Pulling. Nudging. Urging me to move along. Challenging me to do something, to make something happen, to get on with what needs to be done.
As I drift between the mindset of a toddler and that of the parent, I try to find peace in the words of the one who modeled the attitude of each. I pray that He will show me how to balance both and take comfort in that He continues to love me whether I am picking blades of grass or rushing to a meeting.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:25-33, NIV)
Tom
A Norvell Note © Copyright 2017. Tom Norvell All Rights Reserved.