Important Note: For the past 91 weeks, I have been writing blogs for Guideposts Magazine’s website OurPrayer. It has been a great honor and pleasure to write these blogs. As of August 1, 2011, Guideposts will discontinue all of the OurPrayer blogs. Many people have told me that they follow my blogs every week, so I have decided to continue to write the blogs and will have them posted on my website. Starting in August, you can read my blogs by going to www.joycarol.com and clicking on “Read Joy’s Weekly Blog.”

This week I had a lovely surprise in my garden. As I so often do, I was rushing around pulling out weeds, applying compost, and watering the flowers that looked thirsty after a hot dry week. I thought I saw a flash of orange in the bushes at the back of the garden. But I was too busy to pay much attention to this happening. I just kept on rushing around – too busy to experience a possible gift in my life.

The next morning I turned on a small sprinkler so that water was gently squirting into a hydrangea bush. Suddenly I noticed that there was a lot of movement in the bush – not just from the splashing water. Instead of carrying on with my tasks, I sat down to observe the show. There in the hydrangea were several goldfinch, two cardinals, a robin, and my favorite catbird all flapping their wings and enjoying their shower. After sitting quietly and enjoying the bird show, I saw a flash of orange peeking in and out of the bush. Could that have been a Baltimore oriole, I wondered. They are very rare in these parts, sometimes passing through in the early spring on their way to another destination. To reward me for my patience and quiet observing, the oriole came out of the bush in full sight to show off his beauty. Ah, such a gift.

I often promise myself that I will slow down my life and enjoy nature and God’s many little gifts. But unfortunately, like many people, I keep my life running at a fairly fast pace, even though I have many good intentions to slow down and be in the present moment.

Most of us yearn to have more serenity and peace in our lives. Our spiritual lives are stunted when our lives are too busy, too stressed. If we can reduce the complexities of our fast-running, overly-programmed lives, we may discover that we do not feel as frantic and harried, and we might experience a kind of serenity and inner growth. We may even find time to do the important things that really matter to us. Perhaps we will even see surprise gifts from God like the beautiful oriole in my garden.

Yes, we can make our lives more peaceful by leaving hassles and pressures behind and by nurturing our souls. As the summer continues, let us think about the things we could do to make our lives gentler and more spiritual.

Peacegiver, we turn to you for help in our crazy, frantic lives. We have allowed ourselves to get caught up in too many activities and things. We need to remember that Jesus went to the hills, to the lake, to the garden to pray and to be with you. Help us to do the same – to be with you and to take time to see your little gifts to us. Amen.

Joy Carol
www.joycarol.com