An Exercise of Belief

Sometimes I'm tempted to think that the little things that make me smile, that make my heart heave a little sigh of happiness, are simply coincidences or natural occurrences or just me groping for something new to fill my list.

The honk of a lone goose overhead as I wrestle wriggly tots in jammies? Well....all geese are on the move this time of year. This is their natural migratory path. Wouldn't it just be silly to see that as a gift from God for me in this moment?

Hitting the brakes while backing out of the garage unknowingly only 12 inches from smashing into my mom's little bitty car with my giant gas-guzzler?  I always brake and turn at a certain spot while backing out of the garage. It was just a coincidence that I didn't smash into her while I was busy at thought.....right?

But if I attempt to avoid "over-spiritualizing" the every day, aren't I engaging in disbelief?

It almost seems that belief is a spectrum ranging from believing in one God (which even the demons do - James 2:19 - and their eternal destiny is certainly not desirable), to believing that the one God loves me, to believing that He sent His son to die for me, to believing that this one God is personally and actively involved in my life right now. He's big enough to create and orchestrate it all, yet He's "small" enough to focus on me. He's not too big to be that small and He's not too small to be that big.....He's just I AM.

So I will not let what the world seems to cloud over what the world really is. I don't want to engage in unbelief at any point of the spectrum, and I sort of understand what the man meant who said "Lord I believe; help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24).

This is not just some Pollyanna Glad Game. This is an exercise of belief, choosing to acknowledge as more than fate or coincidence or "natural" occurrence the expressions of God's love for me in the every day.

#241. signs of life in most of my new shrubs planted last year
#242. the smell of tomato plants
#243. the first rhododendron bloom
#244. raised strawberry bed built and in the garden
#243. the little girl coloring all day
#244. the little girl dancing when she's not coloring
#245. the little boy jumping his plastic motorcycle over all the frost heaves in the driveway
#246. the puppy sleeping on the doorstep
#247. clearing out the asparagus patch
#248. sweeping out the garage
#249. the 2 brunettes
#250. making plans to go to Lu's Greenhouse!
#251. barefoot children
#252. a few days of heat
#253. the whir of ceiling fans stiring up the air
#255. the relentless wind trying to dry us out again