Notice.

I have mentioned this in the past, but every morning on our way to school, I ask Mazy, “How did God paint the sky?” A morning this week, we noticed an incredible sunrise with 4 plane lines shooting out of it from the nearby (well kind of nearby) airport. It really was quite spectacular – those lines perfectly placed in the sky, or so it seemed. Mazy tried to get a picture of it and was yelling from the backseat, “I need a PICTURE!” But you know how it goes, the picture never does it justice.

A few weekends ago, I flew to Arizona to meet a long-time friend from Minnesota. I was able to choose my seat and not that I’m a frequent flyer, but if I have the option, I always choose a window seat if the option is given to me. I didn’t know where we were flying over, but I couldn’t help but notice the beauty above and below. I’m assuming it was New Mexico, but the earth’s floor was covered in brown jagged mountains that looked like stalagmites coming out of the ground.

I had downloaded a few games to play on my phone and brought a book along to read, but I kept glancing out the window, in awe of what I was seeing. A part of the world I had never seen before. And all it took was make taking a moment to NOTICE.

In a world and culture that celebrates multi-tasking, can we do anything WITHOUT multi-tasking? I’ll fully admit, I pride myself on the ability to do so. I thought multi-tasking was something to be proud of? Who doesn’t want to get something done in less amount of time so that you have more time? Well, more time to do what? MORE of course!

What I fail to see is that multi-tasking keeps me from noticing. Screens keep us from noticing. This one is HUGE. Have you ever seen reels of people walking off edges into rivers or who knows what because they are looking at their phones? Or missing major moments in life because they were looking at a screen? Too busy to notice?

Sadly, I’m sure I could probably think of personal moments too where I was looking down, instead of out, not noticing and missing the beauty and missing the moment.

Have you ever thought that in life, instead of doing more, making more, cleaning more, driving more, or buying more, sometimes we can LEARN MORE just from LIVING life?

Sometimes just living is the lesson.

I have literally attended hundreds of appointments in my health career. I call it a career because it literally has been my job for a significant amount of time in my life, trying to save my health. Recently, if nothing is pressing (like needing to text my hubby, family, or friend), I try to put my phone away and just sit. And wait. Notice. Take in the moment.

How many of us miss the moment because of what’s in our hands? How many of us miss the moment because we are too busy trying to capture the moment with our phones?

Take time to notice. Sometimes the lessons God is trying to teach are simply found in just being, noticing, and living out the moment. Screens aside. Multi-tasking aside.

This is a lesson I am trying to teach myself, but boy is it hard and boy does it go against every “git ‘er dun” attitude I’ve had. But I’ve found that I want Mazy to stop and smell the roses, notice, and soak in how God painted the sky. How will she ever learn if I don’t model it for her?

Stop. Notice. Soak it in. Wherever you are. Put the screen down. Because sometimes just living IS the lesson.