Out of Nowhere

It is cold this week.  I miss the warmer weather we had just last week, even though it brought the fog with it.  For about 3 or 4 mornings in a row, I had to deal with fog on the way in to work. 

One night last week, I was on my way home, late.  The sky was beautiful with all the stars sparkling so brilliantly.  It was an easy drive, one I could have done without thinking. I have done it many times.  Suddenly out of nowhere I hit it, a fog so thick I had to slow right down.  I had to focus intently on my driving for about 30 seconds, and then it was gone, as quickly as it appeared.  The stars still shone brightly overhead.  That fog re-focused me so that I paid attention to my driving the rest of the way home.

How many times do we go through life, doing life without even thinking about what we are doing?  We are so accustomed to our everyday routine that we don't even pay attention to our own actions.  I remember when I was in high school, having to cross a very busy street in Toronto to get to school.  Many days I would cross half way, stand on the centre line and wait for the cars going in the other direction to clear so I could go the rest of the way across the street.  One day in particular, I got to school and had absolutely no recollection of crossing the street.  I am not going to lie, that scared me.

I see two problems with living our lives on auto-pilot.  The first problem is that we can walk all over the people in our path without even realizing it.  How easy is it to take people for granted.  If we are in a bad mood, we can speak thoughtlessly, or react insensitively to them.  Either way, we all lose.  The second problem is that we can miss all the little miracles God plants in our path.  A beautiful sunset, a deer on the side of the road, a flower, a laughing child or the smile of a friend, can all be overlooked because we are not paying attention to the details of life.

When was the last time you actually paid attention to the path God has placed in front of you?  When was the last time you took the time to appreciate the people and the little miracles of life that God has brought to you?  My challenge for today is to walk with open eyes, not just the eyes on your face, but the eyes of your heart. Find the little things on your path that will lead you to celebrate life; then celebrate!

Be blessed, my friends, be blessed!