Living Breathless (Busy vs Beauty)

I'm on the porch, on the old rocker, and the sounds from the dining room delight my soul. My two youngest sons and two friends are around the table, eating pizza and talking all things little boy.

And they laugh.

It's the kind of laughter that comes from down deep.  It's easy and free. It rolls and flows. They try to talk around it. They gulp for air. But in the end, they give in and laugh until their sides hurt.

And as they laugh, my own soul becomes lighter.

In this moment, I'm grateful for the simplicity that's stilled my world. I'm thankful for children and for joy that comes from loving life and those around you. I'm thankful for boys who are brave enough to be just who they are - little boys. There's something lovely in this, and they don't even know that once childhood is gone, it can never come again.

The week had been full.

Busy.

 Lonny was out-of-town, and even with my oldest son home from graduate school, dividing and conquering meant running wild. Two boys to the pool. One to baseball. Meetings and youth group and Bible club. Practice and games. Back and forth. Yoyo living. Moving too fast to see extravagant grace shining in ordinary places.

Like the goodness in the laughter of little boys.

If someone asked me to describe how we've been living day-to-day, I'd think of commitment. Activities and obligations that keep the calendar tight.

 We live breathlessly.

 But today, sitting here soul-still, I think of living breathless in a different way.

What if living breathless is living slowly enough to let God take my breath away?

 

 

When my boys were smaller, when they wanted my attention, my full-on focus, they'd place their small, warm hands on my cheeks. They'd lock their eyes on mine. "Mama," they'd say. "Listen."

The Lord doesn't physically cup my chin and direct my gaze, but He directs my heart. There's sometimes a whisper to wonderful and if I'm too busy, too distracted, too intent on intention, I may just miss out.

Lord, let me see your goodness and grace today. Let me live breathless - in awe of Your Presence.

The boys are finished at the table. Chairs scrape hardwood and dishes clatter-clank. In a crazy blur of boyhood, they thunder past and bolt out the door. They're free to run and free to be.

 I sit here.

Captivated.

I want to live breathless - seeing God's grace in beautiful, ordinary things.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. Psalm 118:1 NIV