Do you like to people watch? Do you ever try to guess what their life is like? You can learn a lot about a person by watching them. You can also learn a lot about yourself. The other day was one of those times that I learned a lot. I was enjoying my soft pretzel while watching people in line. One family, in particular, jumped out at me. It was a Mom and her two daughters. Their shoulders were slumped and they were anxious to eat. As they discussed what they were getting, the Mom growled: “We are only getting one strawberry shake and you will share it.” The girls didn’t accept the answer very well which only escalated the Mom’s anger. I looked down at my food and tried to block out their conversation.

I love how God works. He cares about all our needs. Every. Single. One. No matter how small or how silly the need may seem, God cares. The other day God blew me away with how much He cares. Here’s my story… I headed out to meet a friend for an early morning walk. We were meeting at a school that had a path behind it. After arriving, I parked my van and waited for my friend to come. I had my pouch with phone and a headlight to wear around my waist since the path wasn’t well lit. My friend arrived so I hopped out of my van and we started to walk.

Painting. When you hear that word, what do you think of? Does your blood pressure rise at the thought of painting? Or do you love to paint? For me, the butterflies are working overtime in my stomach at the thought of painting. The other day I was helping a friend paint a wall in her daughter’s room. I admit I was a little nervous painting because I didn’t want to mess it up. But, I pushed through anyway and actually had a lot of fun. After painting my section, I sat down while we waited for it to dry. And then I saw it. The lines. The lines that didn’t cover over the old paint. Yup, I know it was my doing. But instead of letting it get to me, I chose to focus on what I could learn.

“Really? Another red light?! I just want to get there already!” The other day I was on my way to BioLife to give plasma. Right after I was done there, I was headed to a Scrapbook crop. There were many albums to work on, so I wanted to get moving with my day. I thought through what project I would work on and felt the excitement building. Needless to say, I was very annoyed when I had to stop for another red light. In that moment, God whispered to my heart “Slow down and enjoy the ride. Savor the quiet.”

Do you ever read something and stop in your tracks? And then, you go back and reread it because surely you read that wrong. The other day I was reading in the gospel of Matthew and I did that very thing. Jesus asked Peter a question and then he asked him to go fishing. I learned a lot about Jesus in this story.

The other day, my daughter Micaela was climbing down the side of her bunk bed making all sorts of noise. Next, she bounded onto her sister’s bed. Wouldn’t it have been much easier to just climb down the ladder? Apparently, it was a lot more fun that way. Honestly, this incident reminded me of myself and how I sometimes approach life. I often want the easy way out. I would much rather go through a hard time quickly than deal with the pain and heartache.  My heart breaks over broken relationships, loss of loved ones or injuries that take a while to heal. I want to get out of a hard time as quickly as I can, like my daughter Micaela wanted to get out of that bunk bed. But, God in His infinite wisdom uses these hard times to make me more like Jesus.

“Mom, Caleb won’t take my hand!” complained my older son Nathan. The other night we were gathered for dinner and about to pray. My husband and I placed the last few items on the table for our meal. Nathan laid his hand out flat and Caleb refused to place his hand on top. Nathan felt rejected and frustrated. Jonathan reminded Nathan that even though Caleb wouldn’t take his hand, Nathan was still okay. Jonathan asked Caleb to take Nathan’s hand. Caleb pouted about it but finally took Nathan’s hand. After thanking God for our meal, we enjoyed being together.

I can do it myself. This is a phrase I have used too many times. The other day, I was at Aldi. There was a father there who displayed this attitude. God used it to teach me about pride. Here is my story... In and Out. That’s what I needed to do the other day when I went grocery shopping at Aldi. I had an appointment and needed to be focused. With my list in hand, I charged forward. I had Caleb and 2 friends with me but the little boys were strapped in, so I knew I could move fast. Corn Chips, Ketchup, Yogurt, Kidney beans into the cart as I breezed through my list. I pulled frozen chicken breasts from the freezer and in the process noticed a Dad with his adorable little girls. He was holding one and trying to keep the other close by but she preferred wandering. I sighed as I remembered those early days. I felt the feelings with the Dad as he kept track of his young girls. The goal was always to get done and get out of the grocery store as quick as possible. Oh yes, I remember those days.