July 2024
Dear church family,
I finally stopped to just take in the sunset from my front lawn the other night. The colors have been breathtaking lately - the hues of pink, with gold lining the clouds. I’m often driving or trying to get through some chores or finish some work during this golden hour, and haven’t made myself stop to just take it in. When I finally did stop, I heard a variety of birds chiming in from various trees. And then I noticed this funny pot of succulents hiding in the grass at my feet. It isn’t something I planted, but a relic of past owners. It was partially covered in grass clippings, and when I pulled those away it was like a tiny world was waiting for me.
The details of these plants are extraordinary - and also so tiny! This is a close up picture, the size of the spread isn’t any larger than a dinner plate. I love the variety of colors and textures represented, but even more so the reminder that beautiful things are happening all around us, if only we might stop and notice it. This pot has been steadily growing, finding its own way to beauty, with no help from human hands. Truly, gifts of God for the people of God!
I need this reminder in my life of God’s details in my forgotten places. Reminders that God is at work in the places and spaces that I have left untended. God is even working beauty in the midst of chaos (busyness and lawn clippings, etc). This factors into my life in meaningful ways, not just in the plants I mismanage. For the friends I’ve lost touch with, or the conversation I was meaning to follow up on. For the places I feel forgotten, God is still very present in me, to me, and all around me. The reality that God is at work does not dismiss me from actively participating and responding to what God is up to, but it does relieve me of thinking that God needs me and only me to do what He will do.
God wants to use you, and God is at work without you. It’s a funny little mystery to live in. I think about this and wonder: Where do I need to stop, look around, and take notice of what God is doing here? Perhaps it is a relationship that needs prayer, healing, and time. Perhaps it is space to reflect on my own motives vs. God’s longings around something I want very badly.
May you find spaces to stop, notice and wonder at what God is doing all around you. May this wondering embolden you to know God’s deep love and care for you, and for those places that feel like they need a lot of work (we all have them). May you move forward from this point of deep love, so that all may know the gracious, slow, and beautiful work of our God!
“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” - Jesus, Matthew 6:26-27
Many Blessings,
Pastor Becca
