Life at our house during the week has a predictable schedule of events. It is as if the first 2 hours of our days follow the same comfortable pattern daily. Tim gets up for work, coffee is made, he leaves and I enjoy a warm cup of coffee while gazing out the window. This is my quiet time, when time stands still before the chaotic day begins. Lately I have enjoyed the changing of the seasons and the early morning birds singing their ear pleasing songs and time standing still..
Then my day begins with the same old pattern and little time to spare for the unexpected:
- Wake Anabelle up and get her ready for school
- Get breakfast made and ate (ate is the fun part sometimes!)
- Make lunch for Anabelle
- Get shoes on which for whatever reason is a chore in itself
- Bible story and prayer
- Gather up backpack, lunch and jacket
Then we head out the door for a walk of precisely 5 minutes before arriving at school. A comfortable schedule that has worked for 8 months until now! How did the schedule get messed up? It has worked for so long. Really, what could have gone wrong? I ponder for a moment and realize that Spring has put a wrench in MY scheduling of the morning.
The Spring gives us a change of pace, more daylight to enjoy outside, the emergence of flowers from the ground and buds/petals on the trees. The smell of lilac bushes has dominated in the air and the sprinkling of flower color’s cover the ground where once brown grass seemed to be endless on the lawns. These changes in the scenery have caused less than timely arrivals at school. The season has definitely changed!
You see, I enjoy the beauty of the landscape that is around me but rarely do I stop to smell the flowers. Anabelle on the other hand sees it as an adventure on the walks to and from school, a landscape that has been displayed with unexpected gifts from God. Just this week she has stopped on the way to school to:
- Smell tulips
- blow seeds on dandelions
- picked bouquets of flowers
- found a robin egg
- picked up her “special treasured” rocks
- stopped for purple flower pickings numerous times
“Really child?” is my thought as a watch her and my 5 minute schedule passing by. Then God helps me understand and take note of the moments. How many times do I stop and appreciate what God has given to me? Life of a 5 year old is a constant adventure with unexpected stops and gifts on any journey. Over the past week, I have started appreciating the beautiful colors on the walk to school as a 5 year old does by taking in smells, colors and the songs of the birds that God has made around us.
“Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert. “
Isaiah 43:19
Plan the unexpected into your day. Appreciate the small gifts that God gives us by pausing along the way in this busy and distracted world. Stop and smell the tulips as a 5 year old does and give thanks for the blessings of life that God springs forth during this season. Often in life, it is the “unexpected gifts” that bring joy!
Have you ever received an unexpected gift? Will you bless us by telling us about it in the comments below?