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Sunday, November 23, 2008

Impressions

I began walking at the two week mark from my surgery... just a little. Once again, I have enjoyed slowing my pace down a bit. As it was when I fractured my back in June (did I mention that 2008 is now known not as the year of the Dog, or the Ram, but the year of the Doctor?) Anyway, I have been reminded that it is always nice to just slow down. If you are like me, you rarely choose to slow down. It is something that, all too often, the Lord must impress on me by necessity. But you know, amazing thing happens when you slow down... You see things that you never saw before. Houses that I have ran by a hundred times look different. I notice the details in landscapes, I see the river in clearer view. Even that house that has always looked vacant, shows signs of it being a not just a house, but someones home. But the thing that has struck me the most has been the imprints left on the sidewalks. You see, the beautiful leaves have turned their shades of Fall, and, as the seasons name prophecies, have fallen to the ground. As they lay, through the chilly mornings and warm afternoons, and even the pounding rain, the cement begins to take on the full impression of the leaf. Then the winds (or the leaf blower, depending on how poetic you want it to sound...) come, and the leaves are removed from the cement. Leaving their imprint. Not surprisingly, the longer the leaf has been on the sidewalk, the more detail of the leaf is left on the cement. I have been slow enough these days to see some brilliant impressions of the leaves on our ever busy sidewalks. The detail has astounded me. And I began to think how much I am like the cement. And how much my Savior, is like the leaf. The longer I allow Him to rest in me, to saturate my spirit, the more He leaves His impression, and hopefully, the more like Him I become. As I allow Him to be my covering, the more people around me will not see me, but see Him, in me. His imprint on my life.
Now, unlike the leaves, the Lord is not whisked away by the storms and rains of life. It is I who move from Him. Yet, I pray that even as I face the trials and triumphs of life, I would allow the Lord to remain my ever constant covering. Leaving His impression on my spirit, so that I may become less... and He might become more.

2 comments:

Emily, Bob, Etta & Mae said...

Have I told you lately how absolutely blessed I am the God brought you in to my life? We have our great moments together, but then you always seem to be able to say something that makes me just stop in my tracks and re-evaluate. Thanks!

Neuropoet said...

What a wonderful little "parable " of your own - it's amazing how our Lord reminds us of His presence in our lives in little things. The goal is always His "becoming more" as we "become less", like John the Baptist said, and yet it is so easy to forget in the busyness of life. I am learning so much about having to "slow down" right now too, and in the slowness He keeps reminding me that His power is made perfect in my weakness. There's a quote by Mother Teresa I've had echoing in my mind as well lately, "Accept whatever He gives, and give whatever He takes with a smile." :) Strangely, it seems to be easier for me to give to Him than it is for me to accept His gifts... So I have found another weakness in which I need Him to be my strength... :) Only He can mold me into His likeness...

~Jenny