After all, I have laundry to do. And dishes to wash. And groceries to buy. And phone calls to make. If I don't work quickly, things will never get done. At least that's what I keep telling myself.
Days pass. Breathlessly. In a flash. Lickety-split.
Life is a whirlwind. And I'm hurried. Harried. Hard-pressed to find a spare moment.
God knew I needed to take a breath. So He used a child to teach me a lesson about hurry. About how it steals your joy. About how it makes you blind to the beauty unfurling around you. About how it cripples your ability to marvel.
We were leaving the grocery store, cart heaping with bread and milk and eggs. As usual, I was in a hurry. To leave. To unload the groceries. To carry on with my day. You see, I dislike grocery shopping. Immensely. So my goal for every trip to the grocery store is to get in and out - in record time. This might have been possible before Asher was born, but having a child is not conducive to getting things done in a hurry. This is especially true of two-year-olds who stop every few feet to look at something. Or comment on something. Or loudly inform a fellow shopper that he looks like Santa Claus.
As I clutched my son's hand and attempted to navigate the cart through the parking lot, Asher stopped in his tracks. With a gasp. Cart, momma, and son came to a sudden halt. "What's wrong?" I asked, with concern - and a little more annoyance than I care to admit.
Asher crouched down, his head bowed close to the ground, and said, "Oh, Mommy! Look at this ant! He's carrying something!"
That's it?! I thought. He stopped in the middle of a busy parking lot with a cart full of groceries to look at an ant?! As I prepared to lecture him about the dangers of parking lots and how Mommy has a lot to do and how there is ice cream in the cart that could melt, Asher said something that put me in my place.
"Mommy, did you know God made this ant? And do you know that He loves you?"
That's it. Two questions from an earnest toddler. And I was undone.
If the world is God's schoolhouse, couldn't a parking lot become a classroom? And couldn't a two-year-old become a teacher? And if faith like a mustard seed can move mountains, couldn't an ant bring a frazzled mommy to her knees?
You see, Asher reminded me that children have an ability most adults have long since forgotten. The ability to marvel. Admire. Wonder.
Like most kids, Asher is not interested in tasks or to-do lists. After all, a to-do list identifies tasks that have yet to be done, and Asher gives no thought to the future. His life is happening right now. And because Asher is not worried about multi-tasking or melting ice cream - because right now is all that matters - Asher stooped low to marvel at an ant.
And when he saw that ant, Asher was reminded of the Maker.
And the memory of the Maker reminded Asher of His love.
And isn't this just what the psalmists write about?
David said, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it" (Psalm 24). Did you catch that? The earth is the Lord's. Everything around us is the Lord's. We are the Lord's.
So that teeny, tiny ant? The one carrying a crumb in a grocery store parking lot? That ant was the Lord's.
But is it enough to simply acknowledge that the whole earth belongs to the Lord? The psalmists don't think so. Read Psalm 136:
"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever ... Give thanks to the Lord of lords ... who by his understanding made the heavens ... who spread out the earth upon the waters."
So the earth is the Lord's.
And everything in it shows His goodness.
And His love for us endures forever.
And we should give thanks.
So my two-year-old psalmist was right. That tiny ant belongs to the Maker. And the Maker loves us with an enduring love. And shouldn't that stop me in my tracks? Shouldn't that bring me to my knees?
If we stopped to look at the world around us, wouldn't we marvel?
And if we took the time to marvel, wouldn't be reminded of God's goodness?
And if we remembered God's goodness, wouldn't our hearts be warmed by His enduring love?
If we can slow down - if we can see the world through the eyes of a child - if we can stop to marvel - we will see the love of the Maker written everywhere.
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