The warmer temperatures this time of year means I can sit outside on my patio and soak up that oh-so-good warmth. Soak up the serene environment that surrounds my house and turn off this fast-paced-world for just a little while. Sitting outside surrounded by God’s beauty where I can close my eyes to the world and fill up with raw nature. A really good thing for my soul. Really good.This little space, my little space, has brought me out of some really dark moments.  It’s a place where I can get away from the noise and chaos of life.  A place where I can give in to the weight-of-the-world that rests on my shoulders and sit with my furry friend at my feet.  A place where I can just be still. No pressures to put on a happy face, or talk when I have no words to speak. A place where I journal and read or study the best selling book of all time.  Sometimes I just sit here in this space and marvel at the beauty all around me while I sip on ice tea from my grandmother’s mason jar. Taking in all that is good and leaving behind the sorrow-stained-grief. Being in this space brings me to a deeper understanding of who God is. Seeing. Trusting. Hoping. If God has created all of this…He can surely  find His way into my aching heart.Recently on one of my visits to my little space, I began thinking about all the moments in life that define us, define me. How one moment can alter our life. One single moment has such power and can be recalled on an instant to the exact date, time and place. Every little detail…etched into our hearts and minds like an engraving on a stone. Solid. No room for error or misunderstanding. Just permanent-engraved-etches that run deep into our souls. Thankfully most of the moments that define us are like treasured pieces of gold! Beautiful and oh so precious! Moments we’d like to bottle up so we can experience them over and over again.

But, some moments….I wish weren’t so etched in. Oh how I long to erase the marks of sorrow left within me! Erase the pain and hurt that has permanently scarred my aching heart.What about the time in between all these defining moments? Why are they “just moments”? Shouldn’t they be just as meaningful, just as precious? Each moment is a gift. A gift to be treasured. My heart begins to race with regret over wasted moments. I realize…I have a choice. These moments in life, all of them…define me. They can swallow me up, or I can allow them to leave a beautiful mark on my heart.

Each moment is a gift. A gift to be treasured.

A rustling sound comes from the far away bush that borders the property line of my yard. A bush too far away to determine what is causing all this ruckus (not that I would want to be real close ☺) My mind quickly shifts as I wait to see what will emerge. What critter is busy at work under this bush? With my shifting thoughts…my heart shifts also.In this moment, what does God want me to see? To feel? Knowing that each moment is a gift and that each moment has the power to define me…what will I choose in this moment? Will I allow ugly-brokenness to seep it’s way into my heart? Will I allow beauty to filter in and all the gifts that surround me? Will I allow God in so He can fill me with His love and grace and tender mercies? Knowing God is ever present, He’s here right now… just waiting for me, brings me to this head knowledge that I have a choice. I have a choice in this moment!  I often struggle with this battle between my heart and head.  The heart, my heart…is often is feeling all swallowed up with piercing pain. While my head knows the Truth! It takes an everyday-surrender, an everyday walk with Him, for my heart to follow my head. In this moment, what do I choose? My heart or my head?My mind shifts back to the rustling beneath the bush. Minutes pass and still no sign of what lies underneath. As I am intently studying this bush, a squirrel runs across the yard…oblivious to the sound nearby. Wrapped up in it’s own task of searching for food. It’s own fight to survive this weight-of-the-world.  Soon a bunny appears and makes its way across the edge of the back property line. I watch and listen to the story unfolding around me. Taking it all in as my own thoughts disappear. I’m reminded that God created all these wondrous creatures and all this beauty that surrounds my space.  How His design is flawless and how He uses all things for good. Even this pain in my heart! Each life, each creature, working separately… yet co-existing on this earth to survive. As the weight-of-the-world presses down hard day in and day out, we are all just trying to co-exist and survive.  I pause in this moment and breathe in all of Him. Breathe in all of the beauty that fills my little space.“It’s all really going to be ok” He whispers and draws me in.

The ruckus under the bush gives way and out emerges a bird. I watch as it takes flight into the warm air. Flapping it’s wings and then gliding across the sky with magnificent grace. My focus remains on this bird until it’s no longer in sight. In this moment I can choose to glide across the sky like this bird, carefree and full of life, with the wind softly brushing up against my cheeks as I marvel at all the beauty around me. Or, I can be buried to the ground with the weight-of-the-world on my shoulders. I have a choice. How will this moment define me?

In this moment…I can choose to glide across the sky like this bird, carefree and full of life

Precious Maker of All Creatures, Thank You for these defining moments in our lives. The good, the bad, the precious, and the ugly. All of them allow You to mold and shape as they purposely define.  May our hearts be open to continually seek Your beauty. Help us to hold on to the gift eternity with You…where time will no longer be measured in this moment.  ~ Amen