Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Signs

::Little birdie::
I teach Sunday School to a charming group of children, grades K through 2nd. One of the concepts we've been going over is hearing and listening to God's voice. "God has a voice?" one of the little boys asked. Yes, He always speaks to us, I believe firmly, but we're too busy to notice. So their homework was three fold: Before drifting off to sleep, talk to God. Then instead of just stopping there, listen to Him. Engage in a dialogue, speaking and listening. The assignment was to be written down on paper in this manner: "When I listened to God, He told me... {fill in the blank}."

Teaching is a funny concept, because the teacher always learns more than the students. During the week, I spent time trying to fine tune my listening skills when I spent time talking to God. Admittedly, I was filled with many ADHD moments and struggled a bit during the week with my own homework. Then one moment captured the essence of my homework to a T... I was in the garden picking vegetables to cook, and as I knelt to harvest a large zucchini, I made eye contact with a baby bird sitting on a leaf!

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How it got there, I don't know, because there are no trees near the area. At first my concern was that it would die... how would I save it? But then I noticed how clear its eyes were, fearlessly perched on the leaf. I felt its peace, and the peace permeated through my rushed day with a force so calming. Of course I grabbed my camera, and when I returned it was still there, sheltered in the shadow of the surrounding leaves. I carefully let go of the leaf and covered the bird up, intrigued by its presence.

One could say it was a fluke. I don't believe anything is happenstance but rather, carefully and lovingly crafted together. I am certain I have heard the voice of God. He spoke to me through this little bird's visit - He related to me in the manner I understand best: visually. And it serves as a reminder that I am hidden under the shadow of His wings, that my Father daily nurtures me. I am so humbled by the elegant message.

::The Camera::
Speaking of signs, your children are a mirror of yourself, aren't they? Earlier today, Amanda grabbed a roll of tape, several sheets of paper, and pens, and disappeared into the play room. An hour or so later, she emerged with this contraption:
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She made a camera. Bwahahaha! Just like her camera-wielding Mom, Amanda walked around the house "taking" photos.

Look at the length of that lens! Must be expensive, heh heh:
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And my sweet little shutterbug herself:
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It goes to show you that youngsters really don't need expensive toys; actually, they hinder the creative process in so many ways. If you have young children in your life, I challenge you to cease the buying frenzy in their name. Play with them instead and model what it is to use the ole' noggin to have fun!

Now, to take my own advice...!

Taking time to reflect on the gifts of life today. Thanks for letting me share if you've read through the entire post. :)

15 comments:

Jeanne said...

I got all goosepimply reading about the little birdie! Thank you for sharing.

Oh and that camera made by your lovely girl...amazing!

Thanks for the reminder to take joy in the little things.

Angela2932 said...

Wow! That's some lens Amanda has! Heather, I love the message and insight you shared. This is beautiful and very profound! Thank you!

Tammy said...

I was encouraged by your parables of the "Little Birdie" and the "Shutterbug"! Thanks for sharing the words AND the photos.

Brenda said...

What a beautiful little birdie--so glad you captured the moment with a photo to remind you of the lesson again and again.

And that camera--wow! There is some significant math going on in constructing that. I'm very impressed.

Jen Wolff said...

Amanda is a hoot! I love that lens!!!!!! Thanks for sharing your beautiful and adorable moments from your day!

Jackie said...

Oh that birdie was so cute...glad you got the picture of it...
And your daughters camera is way too cool....

Daniel said...

Haha, I remember building my very own camera like that! Cousin Abe and I would use the old computer paper that had the holes at the sides and pretended that the holes were the film. Ah, the memories...

Thanks for the reminder to listen to God's voice. I must admit that I haven't been doing that lately.

Stay tuned as I will finally post a blog by the weekend. It will be about my first week in the university, though so far it is not any different :-/

God bless Noona!
-Foffy

Carol said...

You managed to capture a wonderful photo of the bird. Thanks for sharing your stories, I love reading them, always leaves me with something to think about.

What a gorgeous girl and camera. She already knows to aim for the good lens lol.

Anke said...

How absolutely adorable, both the birdie and your DD! Thanks for the story, it was very moving and so true! Her camera was amazing! What imagination (or talent for observing)

Kimberly White said...

I am so touched! Thank you for this post Heather ... God does speak to us and I will do your assignment! What a wonderful gift that little birdie was ... and the camera is priceless! Joel found some bubble wrap the other day and kept getting me to say cheese as he popped the bubbles of his "camera" Have a wonderful day full of blessings!
Kim

Kari said...

What a wonderful reminder!! It is amazing what we can learn when we stop to observe and LISTEN ;) Love the pic of Amanda, too ... wonder how long her zoom was on that?!

Anonymous said...

I usually can't read what you wrote on the top since the joyrevisted banner and/or photo covers it.

Thx

Heather said...

Hi Anonymous,

I consulted several computer professionals and the consensus is that it might be your viewing settings on your computer that is causing the blog header to be bigger than it should be - would you check your font size settings and get back to me about this issue again?

Becky said...

Heather, I LOVE, LOVE that little camera. What a creative little one you have! You look like you are keeping busy with so many awesome things!!

Ljonezy said...

I loved her camera! Love the messages in your post. But you may want to consider getting her a real camera soon! I can only imagine what she "sees".

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