I was on Instagram. Again.
Killing time before I had to leave for work, I absentmindedly scrolled through a myriad of pictures and advertisements. The pictures were lovely, sure. But they weren’t adding anything to my day. And the advertisements had slight entertainment value only in how they made me question what algorithms Instagram employs to determine ad targeting. Because if Instagram thinks I’m in the market for Bluetooth headphones or that I have any interest in Daymond John’s motivational seminar for entrepreneurs, it has another thing coming.
I heard a murmur across the room, “Wow. The grass is so sparkly.”
I glanced up and saw my son staring in wonder out the window, absolutely mesmerized. I set down my phone and walked across the room to stand beside him. I found it sweet that he was so enthralled with frost melting in the morning sun and offered a half-hearted affirmation. Then I turned to go back to my iPhone, thinking perhaps Facebook needed me.
But something tugged at my spirit, inviting me to stay and look again. So I lingered.
I scrutinized the frost-covered yard, trying to see with the eyes of a five-year-old. And then I noticed it, too. Little diamonds sparkled in a sea of green under the canopy of a bright blue sky. It was ordinary and breathtaking all at once.
And I almost missed it.
It hit me that I probably miss a lot of moments like this … trapped in busyness, in the to-do lists in my mind, in my stupid phone. I hate that life can so easily become such a hectic mind-robbing endeavor. And I considered how quickly I jump on social media for a mental break rather than savoring the gifts God surrounds me with.
Hints of light twinkling across frosted grass, the sky splashed with pink as the sun rises, the buds on the trees whispering of a coming spring, the cacophony of birds calling in the woods … all of this was created for me. For my enjoyment. For my mental rest. For my daily reminder that God is revealed in every aspect of His creation.
I realize we can’t sit around staring at the grass all day. But oh what a poignant reminder this was to not let mindless distractions rob me of true mental rest. May we all find more moments like this to delight in the sacred nature of creation revealed even in the mundane.
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