hydratefortheholidays - look up

Having Thanksgiving at the end of November really does put a kink into things. On the one hand, aren’t we supposed to be planning December since IT STARTS NEXT WEEK? But on the other, what about the Turkey? and lazy, and food, and football, and raking/jumping into leaves, and food, and family/friends, and food and hanging out? But December IS HERE and I don’t want to get behind, or be rushed, or forget something (eek!)

The walls start to feel like they’re closing in (am I the only one?!) and even I begin to make lists. And in the making of lists I start to think about all the things that NEED TO BE ON A LIST. Then I see the list and think how ridiculous it is – because I’m laid back and have never been friends with lists.

In fact, I’m a terrible list maker. I write the stuff down, usually on a scrap of paper that resembles a Chic-Fil-A receipt found in my car. Then I put my list somewhere – somewhere good, where I’ll be sure to find it. And later I search for the lost-list not sure I actually made it. And I struggle to remember what was so important that I actually made a list in the first place. Because, those things must have been important for me to have gone so far as to make a list.

I feel for my kids. Good thing a couple are actually organized. Let’s hope that gene continues!

So, there’s that – the pressure stuff – and then there’s life.

I’m starting to realize that hydrating for the holidays actually reaches so far beyond a time of the year. Inasmuch as I don’t want the commercialization of societalization (I know that’s not a word, but how else can one describe the societal trends that pressure cook life) to rain on my holidays, I don’t want anything to distract from the good in life that paves even the steepest of roads.

So – today’s #hydratefortheholidays tip: Look Up. You never know what you might see.

Remembering to look up can turn my focus away from the holiday crazies and toward perspective, maybe even help slow things down a bit. And slowing down almost always brings with it a nice, long deep breath – and a little sanity, even in traffic.

“Hey! Look!” I punch my shotgun passenger. We were stuck in a long line of cars – maybe in a hurry, absolutely tired of being in the car. “A rainbow!”

“Where?” she asked. “It’s sunny. How can there be a rainbow?”

“It’s right there,” I pointed up over the trees.

As we inched up the road, she moved her head, trying to see through the trees, not really believing me that there could be a rainbow since the sun was brightly shining.

Soon enough, we came out from the trees, “Can you see it now?” I’m now trying to drive and find my phone, hoping the light will turn red so I can snap a pic.

She saw it and stared. It was so beautiful. A tiny rainbow in the sunny sky.

“How is that possible?” she asked.

“There must be water in the cloud that the sun is shining behind.”

She snapped a pic. So I did what every techno-savvy gal does these days, I posted the pic on Instagram with the caption: “Don’t forget to look up – you never know what you might see: a tiny rainbow on a sunny day”

 

rainbow

And almost instantly, my friend Peggy replied: “and an angel wing.” (Isn’t it nice that friends can help us see even more than we do on our own! :)

My shotgun gal and I talked about God’s promise. How his faithfulness remains in every season/landscape. It’s always there whether we see it or not. That not every rain cloud is apparent to others – yet God’s promise stays true ALWAYS. And I thought about my friends who are suffering right now with health issues – how the Lord is faithful in the midst. And I thought about the reason for the season which we will soon celebrate – the ultimate promise fulfilled.

Maybe the tiny rainbow was a gentle reminder to keep my eyes focused up where the ground never moves, I don’t know. But I hope I do remember to look up. Looking upward might help the looking outward, too. It peels our eyes away from distractions to be able to see more in the moments – a powerful reminder for my kid-passengers, too.

Thanks for walking the road with me.

-Kay

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