Friday, August 3, 2007

Looking Up

I noticed the other day that I’ve fallen into a bad habit.

Whenever I take my dog for a walk, I keep my eyes on the ground. I’m constantly scouring the ground around us to see if there is anything that Annie might possibly decide to rescue or eat. She’s a golden retriever, so she feels that it is her task in life to bring me “treasures,” unless she happens to discern that such treasures are edible, at which point she eats that treasure and goes in search of a new treasure that she can bring to me.

And so our walk goes something like this, “No. . . . Don’t eat grass. . . . Drop it. . . . [goes a few steps without trying to retrieve anything] Good girl.” Repeat phrases until we have made it back home.

I know that part of this is due to her upbringing, but that’s not my point.

My point is that for a brief second the other evening, I took my eyes off the ground and looked up. At that moment, God took my breath away. He had painted one of the most gorgeous sunsets that we’ve had all summer. And I almost missed it.

It made me wonder how many gifts from God I’ve missed because I haven’t taken the time to get my eyes off myself or my circumstances and simply look up. Besides sunrises and sunsets, I bet I’ve missed a bunch of smiles. There have probably been rainbows and butterflies and all sorts of neat and beautiful things that I've missed out on.

I don’t want to miss out on these treasures any longer. And so as I begin to lift up my eyes more often, I challenge you to do the same and let me know what you see.

"I lift up my eyes to the hills--
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of Heaven and earth."
--Psalm 121:1-2

3 comments:

TJ Wilson said...

This was exactly my biggest take-away from Mt Hermon this past Spring, to "look up." Look up over 4 feet, the height of my oldest child... there's a whole world out there besides inside the walls of my home. While my main focus is often 4-feet and below, I am prayerful about exactly what "looking up" will entail.

Momma Bean said...

Thank you for the beautiful reminder to pause and enjoy God's glorious creation.

Alyssa said...

TJ - The pictures I saw from Mt Hermon were incredible and definitely serve as a great reminder to look up! I need to be more prayerful about looking up as well; thanks for encouraging me.

K - The clear blue morning skies of late have kept me checking on what God is up to in His creation. Check them out as you're getting the girls breakfast one morning!