Look

 "When change-winds swirl through our lives, especially at midlife, they often call us to undertake a new passage of the spiritual journey : that of confronting the lost and counterfeit places within us and releasing our deeper, innermost self - our true self. They call us to come home to ourselves, to become who we really are."

One night this week I sent Peanut to get our chapter book to read before bedtime.

She returned, just a few minutes later, "I can't find it."

I reminded her that it was in my bedroom from where we had read the previous night. Sent her to look again.

Again she returns with no book, "I can't find it."

I sent her a third time with specific instructions "Look with your eyes AND your hands."

Peanut returned this last time with our chapter book.

"Look with your eyes AND your hands" is probably the phrase I utter the most often.

I seem to be the only person who can find anything in our home.

Oddly because I seem to be the only person willing to lift and move things when looking for something.

Apparently if you stand in front of the pantry in our kitchen the bag of rice won't jump out at you.

You have to be willing to move and shift things. You have to be willing to do MORE than look.

I'm reading this book called "When the Heart Waits." The author talks about how midlife is like afternoon.

The first half of life is morning. In the morning we learn to relate and orient to the outside world.

The second half of life is the afternoon. In the afternoon we adapt to our inner world by developing our true self.

The transition between these two, morning and afternoon, is like a difficult birth.

I feel like I've been stuck in this birthing process the last few years.

Trying to find that place where my INNER world is what you see, what guides me.

I've struggled this week. Nothing I read is really speaking to me. I can't make complete thoughts, can't write.

I'm praying "Speak to me Jesus."

As I hard myself tell the little one "Look with your eyes AND your hands"- I heard it in my heart.

I'm looking for Jesus with my eyes.

But am I looking with my hands?

Am I opening the Bible and reading scripture?

Am I leaning in to the nudges to serve others?

Am I embracing the opportunity to participate in the work He is doing?

Are my feet hitting the ground and am I walking the walk?

Or, am I LOOKING from the comfort of my chair without using my hands?

Mama Warriors, as we enter this season designed to remind of us of all we have to be grateful for, let's look with our eyes AND our hands.