The evening was cool, and refreshing after a week of one-hundred degree weather. Summer, in full swing in drought ridden California, can be described in one word: Oven.
Over the months my eyes have seen more brown, dead, grass than I’ve ever seen before, a testament that the people here are increasingly concerned with the evidence of dryness around us: Mountains in the distance with no snow on their peaks, lakes increasingly lower, looking more like canyons. Winters with hardly a shower.
My parents, also, have been letting their front yard die, are planning to take out the landscaping and replace it with one more drought tolerant. My mother, always positive and always trusting in a Good God, declares that the drought is over, but the current water crisis makes us all a little more water conscious going forward.
In the backyard, however, my parents are keeping the grass green. Oh they are cutting back watering a bit, but keeping it alive. They want a place for their young granddaughter to run and play.
And so, on that cool evening, life was good as I chased her, round and round in circles until we collapsed on that patch of green in laughter.
What joy in what simplicity.
Green grass.
Later my arms itched from laying in the grass, watching the first stars peak out with my excited three year old daughter. Her voice such a treasure, her laughter such a gift.
How often do we not appreciate what is priceless?
Childish voices, laughter, grass, air, water.
Today we are so rushed, it is easy to miss moments like this, moments of joy where we run around like little children and smell the grass.
When was the last time you laid down in the grass?
The thought struck me several weeks ago, on another moment with my daughter laying in my parents patch of green, how long it had been since I’d laid in the grass.
It’s easy to stay inside and be entertained by screens and miss all the beauty. It takes a child to lead us back, to notice the ants on the ground, the birds in the sky, to take time to laugh at nothing but the joyous fact that we are alive!
This childish wonder, this unparalleled delight, is it also one of the reasons Christ calls for us to be like little children?
How many blessings do we miss, simply because we weren’t looking?
Today I am thankful.
I am thankful for laughter.
I am thankful for a breeze.
I am thankful for water.
I am thankful for a patch of green grass.
Oh friend, is your heart dry and parched today? Do you find that the grass is dying and the mountains have lost their snow capped promise of nourishment?
Walk out with eyes wide open! Look! Listen! See!
His whispers are everywhere.
His blessings abundant.
I know sometimes life is noisy and it is hard to hear Him. I know sometimes all the busyness keeps our attention away from Him who should always be our focus. That’s ok, but He is still there, always there. Even in this dry place, He has a patch of green grass, a refuge waiting for you.
I promise.
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Psalm 23:2-3
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