Special moments

When the weather is cooperating, I enjoy going down to the river for my quiet times.  For the most part, I do the majority of my bible reading and studying in the comfort of my room but I find that my moments of deep solitude and prayer with the Father take on more meaning when I am out in His creation.  There is just something about being in the fresh air and wide-open spaces that make me feel nearer to Him and more focused as opposed to being surrounded by four solid plain walls.  I know He is there too in the confines of my room and I have had some wonderful times with Him there as well but I enjoy His presence when in His creation as opposed to mans.   This morning as I headed out, I found myself slightly disappointed to find that the river has submerged my beautiful bench with its rapidly moving current.  No quiet time on the river today but as I watched the flood waters rushing by trying to think of another place to go I was reminded of the summer in my apartment when the creek flooded and buried the bike trail with its depths.  After a little coercion, I talked my roommate into ‘playing’ in the floodwaters with me.  Oh my goodness!  We had so much fun that day.  I can not tell you how happy I felt in that moment frolicking about in the water like a little kid.  In those moments of traipsing through the flood waters it was as if the rest of the world had disappeared and we had somehow managed to transport ourselves to a whole new world and we were on some crazy expedition through the jungles and the swamps.  My roommate may have laughed at me a little but I know she enjoyed our little adventure J  Makes me smile and laugh just thinking about it.  But the cool thing is that I think it made God smile too.  I think He likes to watch us ‘play’ and use our imaginations and just be silly sometimes no matter how old we may be.  He created life to be enjoyed and He wants to enjoy it with us, for He is the source of joy.  You know, the other day I was painting the bathroom ceiling and I had put on some music and just asked the Lord to join me in painting….and He did.  Having finished painting the ceiling and moving on to do the walls; I stood up on the counter to reach the top of the wall and managed to knock my head on the ceiling and not only was it painful but I ended up with white paint all over my hair and as I stood there murmuring about my pain and the mess I had made of myself, I felt like I heard the Lord chuckle at me and in the midst of His chuckling, ask me if I was ok and then I couldn’t help but laugh too.  Had someone come walking in at that moment, I am sure they would have thought me crazy for standing alone in the bathroom on top of the counter with paint in my hair and holding my head seemingly laughing at myself and my pain but it was a random and unexpected special moment shared with the Lord and I have not forgotten it!  It’s an amazing thing to know that the Lord shows up when we invite Him and that He cares enough and loves us enough to want to share in every moment of our life no matter how insignificant it may seem.