Dandelion Days

I cannot remember a time when I did not feel busy. It has generally been an Ok way of life for me as I enjoy being productive and don't like to feel like I am 'wasting my life.' I haven't ever really thought about it this directly, but Joni's husband asked us in Sunday School this week if being busy made us feel important. Consciously, no...but subconsciously, maybe. I like to be a contributor.

When the children started 5 day a week school this Fall there were many questions about what I was going to do with all my free time. I wondered too. I decided to not overbook until I had taken a few weeks to take stock of what life would be like with our new routine.

Recently, God has been showing me that having a calendar that is too full can be to my detriment. There is a lot of blessing in taking life at a slower pace--stopping to not only smell the roses, but to look around for the people God has put in your path that day. I cannot tell you the blessing it has been to simply be available for folks who need someone--to try to intentionally love well wherever I am. The way I treat Babs as she brings me a grocery cart at Kroger or Ursula as she rings up my order is more revealing of the authenticity of my testimony than anything I write here.

Monday, I had a few planned events with 15-20 minute slices in between each thing. Each of those slices wound up being filled with a meaningful encounter with someone that I was not expecting. All because there was a little extra space for it to happen.

This morning on the way to school my car encountered some seriously scary problems as the power steering fluid ran out due to a leak. A kind mechanic filled it up on the spot for free so I could get the children to school, then gave me a referral to someone else in town who could fix it. I spent 2.5 hours in a waiting room--unexpectedly. But instead of feeling bitter and frittering the time away with brainless celebrity gossip magazines and more political coverage, I caught up on a couple of phone calls and spent over an hour reading. Rather than being frustrated at this interruption to my day, I actually decided to turn down a friend's offer to come pick me up. The forced quiet time was exactly what I needed. I found 3-4 clear answers to issues I had been pondering, just by spending time in the Word.

This approach to life is new--and a bit foreign to me--but I am drinking it in.

In one of the telephone conversations, a friend blessed me with some awesome encouragement when she described me as a dandelion. "I don't know if you realize it," she said, "but I can see where God is blowing bits of His Love in lots of different directions through your life."

I cannot think of a better compliment I have received...maybe ever. It was a reminder that God uses us in mysterious ways. It may not be for something huge...sometimes we are just called to be blown like seeds. And, frankly, that doesn't often feel very productive.

I decided this was a great new prayer. Lord, make me a dandelion--willing to be carried (even if it is in pieces) wherever You decide to blow.

Here's to more dandelion days!