My sunday school class is working it's way through Ecclesiastes this semester and it has been a fun journey. Our discussions have centered around where we look for meaning in life, and how that never seems to fill us unless we get our meaning from God. Yet if we do put God in the center, and work to remind ourselves that He belongs there and our wants/needs belong elsewhere than center, He is faithful to remind us of his love through life's many enjoyments. And we can begin to truly enjoy God's gifts of food, homes, jobs, children, sports, family, etc.
My "meaning of life" moment came about a week ago as I was making a much needed trip to Marion's Tractor Supply Co. I had been putting off buying a new pair of work boots this year, hoping to make it through the season but alas an inch long hole and a few days of poorly timed rain and cold, drove me to misery, and thus to Tractor Supply Co. Starbucks happens to be right on the way to Marion, and although I am not a fan of Starbucks coffee in general I do love their Pumpkin Spice Lattes that magically appear on their menus in the month of October. It was a quick decision to pull through the drive-through, a quick decision to buy a "grande" size, and in no time at all I was continuing my journey to TSC. A spontaneous call to mom to tell her about a frustrating experience earlier in the week and a few sips later I was pulling into the rain soaked parking lot in Marion.
Mmmm. "This is the best drink in the world!" escaped my lips before I knew what I was saying and I grabbed my money, keys, much-cherished fall drink and headed for the doors and the new boots that awaited inside. Literally four steps from my car and a split-second later I found myself juggling my favorite drink in the world and watching it crash onto the pavement at my feet. My initial reaction was to stomp around and kick the empty cup halfway to the entrance of Tractor Supply, grieving over the loss of $4 and "the best drink in the world". But in the back of my head, I could hear my sunday school teacher asking, "where do you find the meaning of life?" So instead of getting angry (which I wanted to do quite badly), I began laughing out loud. Consciously noting that God was most effectively teaching me a lesson about my foolhardy attempts at getting meaning from life.
Have you had a "meaning of life" moment lately? Don't forget that the little things are really just little things, and God is most definitely still God. He is the meaning. Rest in that.
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I was settling comfortably onto the couch with my freshly poured bowl of cinna-mini-crunch, after one spoonful, somehow the bowl slipped from my fingers and poured all over me and the couch. My crunchy deliciousness with cold milk spread all over the couch...
yesterday i made a great cup of coffee at home, put it in my trusty travel mug...had a sip or two on the way to work...thought, "wow, this is the best cup of coffee i've had in a really really long time"...got out of the car and dropped it...spilled all over the parking lot, thankfully not on me or in my car...but i was still really disappointed to lose my "amazing" cup of coffee.
My sweet girl has her own sense of "style" and puts together some, well, we'll call them interesting outfits. The other day she headed to her closet before preschool and came out fully ~ and somewhat ridiculously ~ dressed while I was scrambling eggs for breakfast. I told her that she'd have to change into clothes that I approved of for school (thinking about what some of the other moms might think if she showed up wearing the combo) and her little face fell. My life moment hit me in the head when she asked, "Don't I look pretty Momma?"
Yeah, she wore the outfit to school...
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