“Mom, I don’t feel good.”
It’s not what I wanted to hear first thing in the morning. As a parent, I knew what those words would
mean - a day full of whining, possible vomiting, cleaning and laundry.
As I stumbled out of bed I called to the Kid, in my best
soothing voice, “Coming.” I knew I would have to dig down deep into my soul to
find my inner nurse. I mean, DEEP
down. I had been in an ‘emotional funk’
for the past two weeks and with the Kid being sick, it would mess up my time to
wallow in my private sulk. This wasn’t
how I wanted to start my day.
After two hours of stomach pain, moaning, and tummy relief
remedies, the Kid felt better and wanted to go to school. Yippee!
I could still have time to wallow today.
The Kid’s school is about 20 minutes away from our suburbia
homestead in a historical town that I would often visit pre-Kid. I had made such great memories in this town
with Mr. Small Town and various friends.
Now, my life consists of shopping for groceries, making the dinner,
straightening the house, and managing our family’s life. A job that I LOVE with the two most important
PEOPLE that I love, but something was missing.
Mr. Small Town could see it. I
could see it but I couldn’t put a name to it.
After dropping the Kid off at school, I felt a pull toward
the downtown. Maybe it was the Benjamin
Moore sign that I had seen that reminded me of one of the ideas I had pinned on
Pinterest, but for whatever the reason, I decided to go with my impulse. I turned right and parked my vehicle to see
what had changed since my last visit 10 years ago.
I toured a seasonal shop where Easter delightfully popped
out from every corner of the store! Next
I went to the chocolate/dessert bar which was formerly Mr. Small Town and my
favorite restaurant. One step in the
door, the smell of dark chocolate welcomed me.
One of the workers reminisced with me about the building as she showed
me the dessert bar menu. On my way to
the paint store, I made a detour into a clothing boutique. To my surprise, I found the perfect pink coat
that I had been searching for on-line only the day before. When I made it to the paint store I showed
the sales clerk the photo of the paint color I liked. She quickly located the paint number and gave me a paint swatch. It took less than five
minutes. Feeling hungry, I found my way
to a Vegetarian/Mediterranean café. Not
only did I enjoy my lunch but I shared a table with an elderly woman who was also
exploring the town.
After realizing that time was quickly passing, I made my way
back to my car - only to find a parking ticket.
I had parked in a 2 hour space. I
hadn’t realized that 3 hours had gone by.
I was only going to the paint store.
Thankfully, the ticket did NOT come with a fine!
As I was driving back to my little piece of suburbia, tears
quickly formed in my eyes. The tears
weren’t like those tears I had been crying the days before. These were tears of gratitude and joy. It was then that it finally made sense about what I had been missing: an adventure.
God prompted that impulse that caused me to turn towards
downtown. He knew I would enjoy the
seasonal shop full of decorations. He
knew I needed to reminisce about my former favorite place to eat. He knew I wanted a pink coat. He knew I would feel joy in finding that paint
number and swatch. He knew I needed to connect with
new people. He knew I needed an
adventure even when I didn’t know what I needed.
God perfectly placed everything in my day to help me – a
small town girl – who had been trying desperately to get out of her personal
funk. And it all happened when I decided
to act on a prompting and make an impromptu turn.
The Bible says, “Look at the birds of the air; they neither
sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" (Matthew 6:26)
Have you ever been prompted to make a detour in your
day? You never know how God will meet
your needs - even the needs you can't even identify or name. If He
makes sure that a small insignificant bird like a sparrow gets fed and has
shelter every day, you can be assured that He knows what you need and will meet those
needs.
The Small Town Girl
His Eye is
on the Sparrow
Civilla D.
Martin, writer/Charles H. Gabriel, composer
Why should I feel discouraged, why should
the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely, and long
for heaven and home,
When Jesus is my portion? My constant
friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He
watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He
watches me.
I sing because I’m happy,
I sing because I’m free,
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.
Let not your heart be troubled, His
tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness, I lose my
doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth, but one
step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He
watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He
watches me.
I sing because I’m happy,
I sing because I’m free,
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.
Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,
When songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies,
I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
I sing because I’m happy,
I sing because I’m free,
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.
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