My Mama loved singing the hymn “In the Garden” because she loved the intimate moments with the Lord. I love them too, from the sunrises, the fluttering butterflies, the birds who visit, and to be in His Word and praying in the prayer room – a special place.
As I delight in the love gifts of the sunrises and nature scenes that move me. I am grateful. But just acknowledging someone’s love gestures isn’t what makes the relationship – we also must get to know more and more about them.
We need to be interested in them, not just what they do for us.
And so, being with God is more than just the sunrises and sunsets for me. As He continues to teach me throughout my life, I would love to think I know Him pretty well by now, but there is still always more. I love Him for that. He created me with a thirst for knowledge and wisdom and uses it for good. His good.
I love when I remember to ask Him what His plans are for the day instead of telling Him mine. I love being quiet and being still and listening.
Sometimes, listening happens when we aren’t being still but moving and going about our day—yet still acknowledging His presence and asking Him about His day – at the beginning of the day.
“What are Your plans for the day, Lord? How do they involve me?” And, “Lord, will You please nudge me a little harder if there is something You want me to be aware of because my schedule is full today, and I don’t want to miss any opportunity You give me to do for Your Kingdom.”
When we take just a few moments to show interest in HIS plans for the day, it won’t matter if we have a busy day lined up or not. Start it with Him; ask Him. He will be in it. He IS in it.
This morning, I walked in the garden (actually, along a county road). It wasn’t the stroll through the garden my Mama would take as she watered and nurtured the plants and flowers she loved. No, my walk was a brisk power walk to get my heart rate up and be active. But instead of counting eight times around my driveway loop, I felt like walking off the course.
When I run the loop around my driveway, I usually try to run a mile without stopping. I count each time I loop, and if I forget which number of the loop I was on, I do an extra one. It can be monotonous if you only have to walk, though, and not run.
So today, as I asked the Lord about His plans, we started our walk, and I turned the corner of my driveway to the road. Right then and there, I felt His nudging me to pass the other part of my driveway and keep walking forward.
Knowing it is one and a half miles to our ranch, I could do that, but I wasn’t sure about coming back (and going up a hill), so I panicked a little when I passed where I would turn on my driveway loop around. My thoughts were spinning.
“If I get down there, hopefully, one of the twins hasn’t left for work yet, and they can drop me off back home.”
“What if they aren’t there?” “I can just give the horses a treat and sit down inside for a while.”
“I don’t have their key with me – rats.”
“Okay, Lord, it’s You and me. This was Your idea, so I trust You know that I can do this.”
No more panic.
Suddenly, He became present. I came around the old barn on the next property over. The sun was up, shining over the mist blanketing the harvested fields.
“Oh, Lord! You’re Beautiful!” It wasn’t the same view I saw each morning, even though its view was always unique. I marveled at the early morning scene, thinking of my friend Sue.
What Sue Bazzell must be feeling when she takes her daily walks up and down these roads. I was walking fast, but it was slow enough to see each nook and clearing along the way—a different perspective than when I drive this road—and listening.
I listened to the birds chirping inside a line of trees and the engine of an approaching vehicle a mile away. I did what Sue did, and I moved to the side where the car was not traveling.
Yes, my heart rate increased, and my breathing was getting heavier – the exhilarating feeling of exercise, knowing you are warming up your body and doing good for yourself. But it was more than that. As my heart rate steadied and I felt tiny beads of sweat on my upper lip, it was more than just getting in my steps and burning calories.
I passed Max’s house, my closest neighbor, and I smelled the hemp he was growing. It didn’t smell like what you thought it would. It was a pleasant fragrance – sort of piney. The sun was still shining over the mist across the fields, and now the piney smell – ahh.
I get it now, Sue. This isn’t just exercise for you – this is sanity.
This is intimacy with God’s earth – just like when I hike. Only, instead of taking pictures to share, the intimate moment was just for God and me. Fast-moving, sweating, and the sun on my back (which felt good to the pain in my shoulder area).
As my arms swung back and forth, I was mindful not to tense up my shoulders, and I let the heat of the movement and the heat of the sun bathe my shoulders like a salve. For those days, I chose ‘not to workout’ because of my pain; I had no idea I was making it worse. Reclining on my back with the fat cushion of my couch, pushing my neck forward, was not helping.
My husband prayed for me this morning during our devotion time. Not his regular thank-You-for-my-wife prayer, but he prayed that I would heal and be active today. God answered that prayer, and I didn’t even think about that when I began my walk this morning.
My quick stride broke as I entered the ranch – with no cars in the driveway. I would have to walk back home. That’s okay, I felt great. I let my Garmin watch still calculate my time even though I wasn’t in a hurry or trying to beat a record. I wanted to know how long it took me to do a power-walk, be with my horses, hydrate and walk back home – so I can plan to do it again.
I grabbed a water from the tack room cooler and reached for a scoop to fill with horse treats. As my body cooled down and I drank half a bottle of water, I fed Smokey, Legend and Suede treats of apple crunchies and then peppermints. I got horsie lovin’ from Smokey, but he wouldn’t let the babies come near me. I had to throw their treats – they liked that better than trying to sneak around Smokey.
I finished my water and decided to head back a little slower, but my legs were still taking me the speed of my power-walk. “Fine by me,” I said, as God patted me on the back. My back was warm and loose, my shoulders were relaxed, and I headed back home. I waved to the horses, and I started singing to Smokey his favorite song, “You go to my head, with a smile that makes my temperature rise…like a summer with a thousand Julys …you intoxicate my soul with your eyes…” and faded off as I neared the forest of trees.
I heard the beautiful songbirds awake and praising the Lord. I heard ‘scuffling’ in the woods but could not see what made the sounds. As I neared the incline by the bank of personal cemetery plots, I still kept my fast pace – and it was no problem for me. My calves weren’t cramping, and it was a sign to me, that this wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. It took an hour to walk 3.51 miles (and feed horsies treats) but I wasn’t concerned about a time since I couldn’t run. As my husband and I reach our physical goals, we see that our bodies are stronger than we think they are. We can do more than we think we can. This goes for our spiritual goals too.
When you start each day, ask God what HIS plans are for the day. There isn’t always a plan, a time to finish, or a challenge to meet. But there will always be something new we didn’t see before.
