Ducks and Abundance

 We walked to the park this morning. The sun was shining brightly and the sky was the kind of bright blue which only comes when there are no clouds for as far as the eye can see. The wind was blowing. It was cool and pleasant.

When we reached the path leading beside the pond, I stopped to let little Theo get out and walk. Today he hopped anxiously out of the stroller, full of energy, and began doing his little run into the grass. “DUCKS MOMMA DUCKS MOMMA DUCKS!” he yelled.

Laughing, he ran toward them. They observed him cautiously. I stood and watched until he stopped and looked back at me. The wind was blowing his hair wild and his cheeks were red. The sun was cascading down from the sky, crystal clear. He threw his arms into the air and began to quack like a duck, yelling and laughing, and was off running again.

He is so free, and he is so full of joy!  I thought to myself. Nothing weighing him down, no worries, no reservations, no inhibitions, no looking around to see if anyone thought he was cool or not. Just loving what was in front of him in that moment.

Today I am at peace with God, so little Theo’s lighthearted and free spirit resonated with me. This is exactly what God intends for all of us…

Now, I have an entire mental filing cabinet full of moments which are not so inspiring, peaceful, or beautiful. Every moment of parenting is not this picture-perfect, sun-shining down, paradise thing. More often, my patience is gone because I had to make Theo stand in the corner for the 10^th time today, I am going to lose it if he throws his food on the floor one more time, stop whining and get your pajamas on and yes please for crying out loud PLEASE turn a cartoon on so I can have some peace because I just absolutely cannot get the smell of poopy diapers out of my nose and it’s enough to make me want to run into the woods and never come back.

But there are some moments, moments that are so amazingly perfect I think my heart just might stop. So I cherish those moments and I take what I can from them.

Today I was reminded of Jesus’ words about giving us life, life abundantly (John 10:10). This does not mean that life on earth will be one continuous perfect, profound moment. But what I see in my life are glimpses of what is to come, glimpses of paradise and of God’s intentions for us.

I also know it is Jesus who opens my eyes to these things, who gifts me with a change of perspective, and who draws my attention to examples of His light streaming in to this dark world. It is hard to live life in our own strength, doing our own thing, not walking with Him. For me, the blessings were always hidden deep under the layers of self and sin. I just couldn’t see.

So He creates blessings and then directs my attention to them. What an awesome God.  It’s not about health or money or things, but about the spiritual abundance which comes from knowing Christ. 

There is nothing better! 

And I get to take all of this from a quacking two year-old on an April day. My dear sister (mother of 6) and I have had many discussions on how spiritual food can be hard to come by when you are a busy momma, how we often find ourselves spiritually scarfing little bits of scripture and grace and help while Elmo sings in the background and baby tries to climb our legs while chewing on our pants and covering us in drool. 

She once wisely reminded me that the same God who once sustained us with ENTIRE undisturbed SERMONS and quiet, long, peaceful times of devotions will continue to sustain us now in this different season, sometimes with a few minutes, one single word, or a moment. This is so true. This happy chasing-the-ducks moment will keep me fed for today. God is good.

 Dear Lord, thank you for glimpses into paradise and for always giving enough. Amen.