Why is it as adults, life tends to become so routine and so fast, and as a result, we become so oblivious? And the "oblivious" nature I'm talking about is becoming oblivious to the things that kids so often recognize and treasure.
A child, as my husband says, can be one of life's greatest teachers, and without even knowing it. Having Zoe has proven his statement time and time again. Now that it's cool outside all day, I often take Zoe on walks or bike rides, and sometimes just take her to OBU's campus to just wander and explore...of course with me close behind. God used her a few days ago to remind me of what I most often forget...wonder. He used her to remind me that I should again have that wonder, or at least take notice of the small things in life. Just in a 30 minute period, Zoe took notice of soooo many of the small things in life that we seem to just take for granted. The first few steps she took away from my car, she stopped to marvel at the sounds of a motorcycle passing by. "Whoa" was her response to it as she watched it until it was out of site. A few more steps and she stopped to notice a helicopter flying in the sky. Honestly, I just have the tendency to tune noises out unless they have something to do with what my mind is set on at the moment. I didn't even hear the motorcycle until I saw that tiny finger pointing in amazement and those eyes grow so wide. I had to intentionally look at what she was pointing at. Same with the helicopter. It just sort of blended in with the other noises around me at the time.
More than noises, she notices everything around her at her level too. How many times do we stop to sniff a flower or to feel the texture of the ridged plants that look so pretty to us as we drive by day after day? Though there are some deflowered plants on campus now, she sure enjoyed picking petals and squeezing the life out of them. How many of us avoid the sidewalks just so we could feel the grass beneath us? And in the middle of that grass when there is a piping hole covered by a plastic cover, how many of us stop, stand directly on it and dance just to hear the different sound it makes when we walk over it, or stick our finger down the hole just to see how far our finger can go?
For those of you who are familiar with OBU's campus, our 30 minute walk consisted of walking from our car to the fountain, to the very middle of campus and back again. Something like that would take an adult less than two minutes to walk there and back, yet it took a curious 14 month old little girl over 30 minutes...and would have taken longer had I not cut it short to get her home for a nap.
So what have I taken from this? Something that my husband has been trying to implant in my mind for years....slow down and take notice of life happening around you. Life's so short..too short not to take notice of the small things.
Enjoy the pictures of Zoe just enjoying life, taking notice of the small things in life.
Squeezing plants
Hmm..wonder what's under here?
"dis, dis" pointing at the passing helicopter
"Light, light" as she walks towards a lamp post
On her tiptoes watching the river, avoiding monster mosquitos
Just wait until you take her camping, then she will point out things that you would have never noticed before. Even if you have been there hundreds of times. You know our kids, they amaze me every time we walk out the door. They definately are God's precious gifts to us.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I love the last picture of her looking over rail. Is that at the gazebo by the river down from the OBU bookstore?
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's OBU's gazebo. There were some monster mosiquitoes (seriously like 3 times bigger than normal ones we see) and they swarmed us. Of course I didn't notice that until we were already down the hill. So imagine this picture...a pregnant woman who is trying to avoid getting bitten by these monsters and who grabs her baby and tries to run up the hill...running up it on a normal day is tough...running while pregnant was a killer.
ReplyDelete