Excavation in a friend’s yard for
a renovation prior to the time her family purchased the house left a Native
American arrowhead near the surface, which her family later found. They love history
and antiquities of every kind, so the relic was a real treasure for them.
She called last week excited
about another discovery. “I was just thinking about the other arrowhead while
gardening, and there right in front of me was another one.”
It reminded me of a day this
summer while on vacation when I went out biking along a coastal marsh.
It was beside that road I first
saw the marsh hen (clapper rail) referenced in Sidney Lanier’s poem, “The Marshes of Glynn,”
which appears in my book, Give My Love to the Chestnut Trees. I had never seen the bird again, although I’d looked on
several occasions. But this day, in my peripheral vision, I saw movement. I
stopped my bike, and not just one marsh hen, but two emerged from the marsh
grass.
For a long while, I stood very
still, and watched them preen and strut around in the marsh. I captured great reference shots for paintings and could have
stayed there all day, but I knew my family might start to miss me.
I left feeling I had been in a
Holy moment with God―as if He asked me, “How do you like my workmanship?”
“It’s good God. Very good. Thank
you so much for sharing it with me.”
These small gifts like arrowheads
and marsh hens are what the Psalmist David called signs of His goodness. (Psalm 86:17). They’re all around us, these
little gifts of His love and grace, but we have to put ourselves in a place
where we’re able to see.
Sometimes, we’re so focused on
the problem, the heartache, the underbelly, that we miss them.
I was once in a hospital room
with a family going through a hard time, and I looked out the window. Just
outside was a lovely garden with trees and grass, and I felt consolation from
the beauty. Just then, someone else said, “What a terrible view. Look at that
old gas station over there.” I lifted my eyes and sure enough, there was a rundown
gas station on the horizon, but somehow God had helped me miss it, only
focusing on the beauty.
So today, no matter your
circumstances, look for the signs of His goodness all around you. Who knows
what form they will take, but be sure, they are there.
“Give me a sign
of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me” (Psalm 86:17).