Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Wanted: Bird Bath

It's great that Spring has finally arrived.  After a long winter, it is refreshing that the leaves are green and flowers are blooming.  I get excited about being out in my yard where I can plant, prune and appreciate God's creations.  It takes some time and hard work to keep up with things in the yard, but I do enjoy it.

Every Spring I try to do something new and usually replace something old.  I had to replace some broken pots this year and I had an open space that needed some type of garden ornament or statute.  Since many ornaments are borderline weird or creepy, I like bird baths as they are nice to look at and no one will ask me, "what's that?"  So two weeks ago I embarked on a Saturday morning journey to find a bird bath at a garage or estate sale.  I visited several sales and for about 2 hours made my way through a neighborhood sale that seemed to go on and on.  Finally, as I was almost resigned to defeat, I stopped at one last estate sale after seeing a road sign.  As I pulled up, I saw it.  It was out in front waiting for me.  After a quick negotiation, it was mine.  Mission accomplished.

As I paid the man, I remarked that I could have saved myself lots of time and gas if I would have started at his sale.  Reflecting on this experience and statement, it reminds me of our journey of faith.  Many times we have to sift through times of disappointment and frustration before we experience an answer to prayer or even discover God's will for a situation.  It would be so much easier if we could just skip over that period of time and have the instant answer.  But would that require much faith?

One major point of growth for me over the last few years as a father, husband and pastor is to learn to enjoy the journey.  Because even when it is challenging and disappointing, God is growing us along the way.  Plus, the reward at the end is all the more satisfying.