We try to point out beautiful things in nature to our boys. We’ll talk to them about the tomatoes, the flowers, the birds, the bumble bees, and the sunsets.
This evening, we dropped Momma and Son #3 off at the church’s Lady’s Meeting, then we went to the store and bought a few birthday presents for Momma.
As we were going to pick her up, we drove through town, and Son #1 pointed out the sunset.
“Dad! Look at that sunset! It’s so created by God.”
“Wow, son. That’s a beautiful sunset.”
“Yeah, God made that.”
“He did.”
“And God made the flowers, the trees, the birds, the sky, the rain, the dirt, the moon,” it was quite an extensive list. “The stars, the sun, the clouds, the humans, the windows, the road, the houses, the police cars…” There was more, but you get the gist.
Tonight, we watched the sun go down. Then we saw a rabbit hopping down the middle of the road. We spent at least fifteen minutes looking at and talking to the rabbit. And he listened. His ears stood straight up, and he stood statue-still.
We whistled and hollered and tried to get some sort of response. Then we went a little closer to where it was, and it hopped away. Finally, we got within fifteen feet of the rascal. And Son #1 told it how nice of an evening it was and how he had seen his Grandparents earlier in the evening.
Son #2 kept an eye on it with his eyebrows furrowed in their usual worried look. He wasn’t too sure about its motives. We might’ve been in the rabbit hoodlum territory for all he knew.
Then we talked about directions. Son #1 saw the “W” on the mirror in our SUV and asked which number that was. I explained that it was a “W” and stood for “West.”
“What’s a West?”
“It’s a direction.” I pointed toward the sunset. “That’s West, and that way is East. That’s North, South, and Southwest.”
“Where’s Eastwest?”
“There isn’t one of those.”
That conversation went on for about ten minutes. I explained how the sunset was in the West and the sunrise was in the East. And Son #1 offered his opinion that the sun rose in the West and set in the East. We agreed to disagree.
As we sat there watching dusk blanket the town around us and listened as the crickets chirped their evening lullaby, I couldn’t help but think how blessed I was.
Then the Lady’s Meeting was over, we drove home, had family devotions, and now the boys are in bed.
And still yet, at this very moment, I’m thinking of how blessed I am.
For me, the realization comes with the small things. I realize how blessed I am when I see them smile or when I hear their fits of laughter, and when they look into my eyes and tell me about something fun they did earlier in the day. Or when Son #2 brings me the baby dinosaur book and wants me to read it to him. Or when we discuss on which side of the sky the sun sets.
I would never have imagined that the small things in life would be the things that would matter so much to me.
But they do. And I want to notice as many of them as I can.
to the small things,
– Caleb
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