Clear.  The morning starts with the clear sunlight peeking through the shades.  (I also saw the clear moonlight ~ three times ~ sniffly small one needing mommy’s comforting arms).  The sunlight beckons with warm, enveloping arms… the “to do” list drops a diluting tint into the clear…

many things to get done today

Church day… have to get ready… all of us.  The sniffly infant squirming in request of a nap.  Sigh.  The team splits… Dad will take part of the pack and Mom will stay behind.  A whisper in my ear… get ready anyway… I shrug it away.  My baby won’t wake in time and needs healing sleep.  The whirl of clothes, shoes, breakfast, and out the door they go… then, the waking whimpers… you’ve got to be kidding me…

get ready anyway

It registers ~ the whisper I had disregarded ~  the unexpected wake-up, and now I am in overdrive.  I can make it there!  More whirl of clothes, shoes, no breakfast, and out the door we go… we make it in time… for the first words… from the clear water.  The holy words drop to alter the hue once again.

The message ~ one that is meant for me… that message that makes you look around in wonder – why are the rest of you here?  I know He’s talking right to me.  Amazing still how personal are His words to us.  The message of planks in eyes… seeing the specks of dust in others.  The plank in my eye is just fine, thank you.  Not really… Another drop, dilutes again…

Get yourself right, before fixing the rest

That, the painfully difficult part.  I had asked for the refinement, but do I really want it?  Yes, but wishing that it didn’t force me to bare my heart.  Painful.  The good words… the God words… they encourage… encourage a cleansing.  The “getting right” to “get closer.”

Homeward bound to the beckoning “to do” list.  The good words stick for a while… then, the drops dilute further… frustrations of all colors from little (and big) souls… anger, apologies, tears, laughter, joy, sharp words, words of encouragement… the spectrum of a day.  The color, a kaleidoscope… the mommy, longing for the clear.  Isn’t clear the preferred path for a day?  Then, I think of the kaleidoscope… the word itself stemming from the Greek kalos, meaning beautiful.  Beautiful.  

the beautiful color of the day

I had longed for clear… thinking clear was the path toward beauty.  The swirling colors of the day before me… they paint the day, this day for us all… mom, dad, and a six pack… the beauty of the swirling colors in our hearts… each color tints this day… each for its own purpose.  Renewal, refinement, reflection…

The colors of the day bring me to the bathing of my conscience… in the clear water… longing not for a clear day, but a clear conscience with God.

1 Peter 3:21

and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ

I can’t find it!

This phrase I have heard too many times to count.  It’s the all-encompassing phrase… shirts, toys, socks, shoes (especially shoes ~ and always when we are already late)… this time the necessary pads.  Can’t play without the pads… the pads that protect…

I can’t find… 

Sighs, grumbles, loud (not very kind) words, more sighs, more grumbles, and tears.  Fine.  No playing today then.

You have to learn…

The moment passes.  The tears dry.

Days pass, searching, seeking, and the hunt ends in reward.  The pads are found.  All is well.  The player gets back in the game.

This lesson ~ the one of responsibility ~ taught… and learned.  Mom checks the square.

There are no coincidences…

A child, working diligently on her studies, “Mama, I know what a parable is…”

a story that teaches a lesson

She continues, “there’s a story about a son who was lost… he came to his senses… his father welcomed him home… he was found.”

An irresponsible son… joyously welcomed home by the father.

It’s a beautiful story.  Meant to teach us… a lesson.

You have to learn…   

Oh.  This lesson for me to learn.

This lesson of responsibility… the thoughts of the unkind words carelessly strewn about… the scarring of a moment… the opportunity to show grace… missed.

Whose lesson is this to learn?

This lesson of lost and found ~ it has eternal consequences.  I have been lost, I have hidden my face, I have forgotten…  

The open arms have welcomed me back.  This is the lesson… the lesson to teach… to learn…

Luke 15:32

But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. 

Score!

My daughter was playing a heated game of lacrosse (as heated as the sticklettes get), and suddenly… she raised her hands in victory ~ sheer joy.  It was a score!  Not in the goal, of course, but… she lost a tooth!  This little tooth had been wiggling and had caused her some grief during the dinner hour.  She had cried with pain while eating her hot dog.  Now… score!  The tiny tooth had popped out… in the middle of a field, in the middle of a game.  She stopped the game and proudly showed her prize to a gracious, understanding coach (a mommy).  Both cheered as the spectators watched with anticipation ~ wondering ~ what is going on?

My little one stopped in this moment and drank in the incredible joy of a lost tooth.  (The mommy coach, without the slightest grimace, took the bloody tooth in her hand while this mommy ran into the field to claim it.  The tooth fairy would be alerted…)

It was a glorious moment… watching my little one share this child moment with team mates and opponents (while others scored goals around her).  No game, no rules, no “there’s no time for this right now…”  Just this moment.  She relished it.  She lived… right. in. this. moment.  It was beautiful.

her toothless smile

I remember the look on my dear friend’s face.  The last time I saw her feeling really well.  The last time I saw her feeling really alive.  It was a November afternoon… November was her favorite month.  She stood on her front porch and smiled her beautiful smile… her eyes shone with joy.  She felt good that day and it was a beautiful day.  She relished it.  Just that moment.

her beautiful smile

She told me many times, in our last conversations, that she was learning to live for the day.  She was learning to live for just the moment.  It was not easy.  We all tend to look to the next.  The next hour, the next day, the next year…

I wonder how it would look if we lived in just this moment?

I wonder what I can do to stay right here ~ in just this moment?

I wonder when I drift away to the next… how can I get back ~ to just this moment?

How can we live NOW?

Nuture our relationships ~ right now

Open our eyes ~ to what is right in front of us

Write it down ~ write now… right now

A butterfly has a life span of two or tree weeks.  My kids and I just watched five caterpillars transform into breathtaking painted beauties.  We released them.  We watched them fly.  It was a beautiful moment.  The beauty shone radiantly in my children…

their beautiful smiles

 

Matthew 6:33-34

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.