I wonder why it takes a child’s perspective for me to really open my eyes to the world around me. So many things that I just pass by every day without noticing hold so much wonder and excitement for my son. So many things that I would take for granted, write off as ugly, or that would never even register in my brain….
It’s much more fun to live life noticing the spectacular in the mundane. It’s much more fun taking time to notice the small things. So why does it take a toddler to make me do it? What is it about this life that makes me want to rush from place to place…always “doing” something.
Thank God for the way He created our children to explore and wonder. To touch and look and listen. My son reminds me of God’s beauty every day.
Like the wilting cattails out in the wetlands. I pass them almost every day. Frankly, they are a bit ugly right now. But on one of our walks, Elias pointed them out. He was so interested in how they moved in the breeze. So I started to notice them. I saw how they hosted flocks of birds perching and singing. How they rustled in the breeze. How they looked against the blue sky. How they brought us joy on a random winter morning.
Like the twigs on trees near our home. I considered them bare, dead, not worth my attention until my son pointed them out. And when I looked, I saw buds! Spring is arriving soon. New life is found in the midst of barren trees.
Like our walk this evening when Elias was intrigued by a small gravel patch. He tentatively stepped in it, testing. He was joyfully amazed at the crunching sound it made, by the texture of the small pebbles under his feet, by the way it was different from the grass that surrounded it. Elias forced us to stop and be joyful with him as he explored. It made us stop not only to hug and marvel at our son, but at something as simple as a gravel patch. If we can find joy in such a small thing, then how much more joyful will we be at the larger things in life? If we are full of joy, there is not as much room for sorrow. It caused us to stop our “errand” of getting the mail and taking a quick walk, and just play. Nathan and Elias played chase in the grass and there was much healthy laughter.
Why does it take a child to see the world with new eyes? I don’t know. But maybe after enough times, it will become habit for me once again.