Often times after a long, busy day, you’ll find me sitting on the front porch tossing the ball to my dog, Leroy.
I don’t sit much these days.
Time moves quick, schedules are packed to the brim, and the hours I’m awake I normally try to fill with purpose.
I can’t recall the last time I was “bored” or feeling “lazy”, and I’m okay with that.
Behold, these are the good ol’ days we will talk about someday. Age creeps up and life inevitably slows down.
I’ll notice myself grieving missed moments with family, friends, or opportunities that I simply don’t have the time for. Somehow, before I allow the bother to get the best of me, God gently shows up, guiding me back to an eternal perspective.
“Be still and know that I am God.”
– Psalm 46:10
It’s a whisper I’m grateful to hear from time to time, especially when the moments feel fleeting and the precious time we have doesn’t make room for all that we want to fill it with.
Monday came quicker than normal this week and I found myself scrambling over an art project I’d hope to make with my younger kids. The initial idea had failed and I needed to pivot towards plan B, quickly.
We’re learning about primary colors and I was excited to make an Eric Carle inspired “primary color critter” with tissue paper, when I quickly realized there were more limitations than I’d planned for.
The Holy Spirit plus the reminder to “keep it simple” made plan B come to fruition. We’d collage bits of primary colored construction paper to fill a premade outline of a butterfly. It was cute and the kids loved it.
We talked about the unique quality of primary colors. No colors can be mixed to make them, but when primary colors are mixed together, they make a totally new color creation. I related the life cycle of the butterfly to the primary colors we were working with.
Without mixing red and blue, purple wouldn’t exist.
Similarly, without mixing a caterpillar and a cocoon, a butterfly wouldn’t exist.
Before I knew it, Monday turned into Wednesday, primary colored paper was everywhere, and my older kids were talking back more than usual.
(Is it fall break yet?!)
So there I sat on my front porch, debriefing and praying for a refresh in my tired spirit.
It took me a moment to realize what I was seeing. A hummingbird and a monarch butterfly fluttering beside each other, right in front of me.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. Were they playing?!
It lasted for what felt like 5 minutes. These two creatures were side by side exploring the leaves of the tree in front of me, would move together to another branch, seemingly enjoying each others company.
Once they flew away and I picked my jaw up off the ground in disbelief, I said to myself out loud “They were playing!”
As if y’all already had trouble believing what I saw, you’re going to think I’m crazy when I tell you that I saw them again, minutes later, doing the same thing.
It was a whole 10 minute block of time where these two were back n’ forth, playing.
One of God’s fastest moving creatures, the hummingbird, and one of His most fragile, the butterfly.
I watched them both in amazement. Once I put the pieces together of what I was seeing, I felt the holy moment settle in.
God is with us in the busy.
In the still moments.
In the hustle to find a plan b.
On the front porch.
In the waiting.
God is with us when it doesn’t feel like it.
When we’ve convinced ourselves we don’t believe it.
During our younger years.
Our older years.
For every season in between.
God is omnipresent. He is a part of everything.
The hummingbird represented my busy mind, the butterfly was the plan He’d intended the entire time.
Holy moments don’t happen every day, though moments like this are hard to deny. One of my first public faith columns was about a visit from a hummingbird. God is the same He was then and He’s still adding more to the story.
What is your story with God?
Do you go way back?
Does He get your attention when you need reassurance or help you to stay on track?
Do you talk to God?
Do you wonder where to start?
Being a Christian is not for the faint of heart.
Believing in something you can’t see takes serious courage and can be really tough.
Thankfully, Jesus is patient and interested in all of your stuff.
Your doubts, your needs, your anxiety, you name it. He is here for every last bit of it.
“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow; not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.
39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below; indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
– Romans 8:38-39
I’ll leave you with a challenge to be still for a moment. Please find a comfortable seat. Take a deep breath in and release.
Take another. Trust me, your first one wasn’t deep enough.
Set a timer for 5 minutes, and don’t worry about what you’re pausing. Allow yourself to notice our good God, worthy of exhaulting.
The first time you try anything new it is weird and different. This is one of those habits you’ll want to stick with, a habit worth keeping. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.
Ask questions, throw out prayer requests, or simply sit. Jesus is waiting for this chance to connect. At times, there may be nothing, just what you needed, an uninterrupted break. Other times, there will be something, a holy moment, no mistake.
May peace be with you during your 5 minute sit today!
Makenna Curtis
Local Pulse Community Writer
Holy Moments
