Details of Life

We spend our whole lives trying to define our purpose: our reason for living, working, eating, sleeping, breathing, and repeating. Every day entails some routine endless task that- lets face it, no one looks forward to. There's people in your life that come, and people that go. Some people you develop relationships with earlier in life soon disappear and are never to be seen again. They change, as you do also. Some change with you. You discover that the things you believed to be faultless and innocent have secrets that eat you from the inside out. You find that people in authority have real struggles, just as you. You see different sides of people as you grow to develop a mind of your own.
Time is limited for life's little pleasures like video games, Saturday morning cartoons, concerts, and the like. I guess we just find that there are more important things to consume our time with. You meet the people who will become your life-long friends that are there with you through thick and thin. At some point, just after graduating high school, you discover the people who said they will always be there for you, just may not. You discover that there's more to life than SAT scores and winning "best dressed" in the yearbook. The certain talents that people are ever so blessed to have no longer threaten you, but impress you.
Ah…life's little treasures that truly take your breath away. You begin to pay more attention to the world around you: the sounds, the sites, and the smells. The Almighty Creator put so much time, love, care, and inspiration into our world, down to the finest detail- you and I. The things that once passed me by- catch my eye. The things that mattered, that went unseen are now being seen. Lyrics to music, and the thoughts that go through our minds as we take it all in, are now being understood. Perhaps, this is a mid-life crisis too soon? Nah. I think everyone who will read this has just about reached the point of their lives where the little things begin to count. Otherwise- they wouldn't have been able to read thus far.
A child is born, and we found them cute and cuddly, but pawned them off to their parents the moment they started fussing…but now, we begin to take in and admire what it took to get that infant where it is today- perhaps life threatening complications. Sometimes we have to take such risks and sacrifice our comfortable state to receive the most wonderful of gifts.
The coast is what inspires me most. Where most people get out and run on the beach, make a few splashes and are done with the ordeal, I tend to take a little more time to take it all in. Not a single coast trip passes that I don't fall to my knees, grab a handful of sand and not admire how much work God must have put into our world, and to make it more pleasurable for us. The bible verse "with the faith of a mustard seed" repeats in my head like a good song over and over to the point where you feel you could hear it no more. I want a faith like that. Not just the faith of a mustard seed, but the faith of a beach full of sand and all the creatures that occupy it. I can just picture God compassionately selecting each little grain of sand that ever so nicely cradles itself in my finger tips. Clouds and trees to me are no longer just clouds and trees- they are works of art: defined and surreal. This world is simply God's mural. As a child is being born, God begins His brush strokes. I can just picture God fluffing each little cloud, so that He can grasp our attention just for a moment to say "hey! Look what I can do!"
The wind that swept the face of the earth use to inconvenience me. Sand in the eyes is not my idea of a good time. Now, I feel as if it's just God hugging me, like He's putting his hand on my shoulder and walking along side me….leaving "footsteps in the sand." It's during these times that I daydream- of myself as I am now, walking around a very large pond surrounded by a grassy, open plain, sun shining, hand-in-hand with Jesus as He loving tucks the first grown daisy behind my ear, just like we picture the children in the story books. Sometimes it makes me cry out of excitement and anticipation. I come out of this daydream, only to be in another- only, this one's real.
It breaks my heart to hear people claim they don't believe, and it breaks my heart even more, to know it breaks God's heart to hear them say it. I struggle just to find the words to convince them, when there really is nothing I need to say at all- just walk out on that beach, grab a handful of sand and think. No big bang or ape-to-man theory can explain a miracle.
But well, I'm getting older, and I'm sure there are things that have yet to be unveiled to me, and now, I feel as if though if they came at me by storm, I have the strength the conquer them. I have found a place in my life where I am comfortable, happy, content, and looking forward to more. No, I don't do everything by the book. I don't do everything right, and I make good, solid mistakes- just as anyone else would. I strive to be the best I can, and to show Christ in all my actions. I try to see the world through the eyes of others. I'm at ease knowing I can put myself in other people's shoes. I hurt when they hurt, and I'm happy when they're happy. There is no time for jealousy or grudges. Life is entirely too short. My goal is to make the best of it, so that I am only more amazed when I reach Heaven. You see, if I find this world amazing- since it is my choice to make it so- then I cannot be disappointed for what waits for me. I can only be excited to see more. Be carefree. Stop and take in a breath of fresh air, grab a handful of sand- and throw it high, stop and make a shape out of the "God-fluffed" clouds, buy lunch for a needy person when you would not have enough for yourself, and show love in everything you do and say. Life is what you make of it.
Utilize your talent. If you can't find your talent, find someone else who displays an obvious talent, and just maybe, they will find one in you, too! My favorite quote goes like this: "When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me." And I hope (hope!), that I can stand tall in front of my God, and say, I cherished my friendships, I laughed and enjoyed the life you gave me, I learned to forgive, I gave grace, I took notice of your mural, and I loved. So just as a child likes to help their parents with a complicated task, I would only hope that in return, He would place the brush in my hand. Remember: the reward is always greater.


~H3