Who but God would make ice crystals that sparkled like diamonds in the morning sun. Who but God would make it so that our eyes could capture it but our cameras could not. I sat in my car this morning as the defrost did its thing preparing my car for the road to work; I looked at the windshield and wondered how long it would take for the frost to melt so that I could move my windshield wipers over it and clear my window. I was cold, the steering wheel was cold, the air coming from the vents…cold. As I sat there miserable and shivering I decided to back my car up away from the garage into the sun hoping that would speed things along.

The car inched backward into the light and suddenly the frost gripping my windshield took on a different feel. Gone was the solid sheet of white; instead there before my eyes lay a brilliant field of sparkling diamonds. Glittery, shimmery and beautiful. I could see the crystals of the frost in and amongst the shininess and it truly was a magical moment. I grabbed my phone to try to capture it to share with the girls but the photograph just could not get what my eyes were seeing. I even tried a video hoping the sparkle of the sun on the ice would show but to no avail. One might ask why this was such a big deal, really it wasn’t it is just a little frost and sunshine mixed together after all.

However; lately I have been challenged by God to return to my first love. Him. To see him in all things. Everywhere. To wonder and awe at his creation. To set in his presence and remember his goodness, his faithfulness, his power, his love. It always amazes me that when my focus shifts from me, from the world and its difficulties to him, things I would normally dismiss as mundane become places where he exists. Places where he can be seen, experienced and felt. Places that ignite a spark within. Places that capture my attention longer than an Instagram reel because of the exquisiteness of the attention to detail.

This world he made is so wonderful and full of things we have yet to discover. But we are a distracted bunch. Gone are the days of innocent childhood wanderings discovering things, places, people and ideas. Instead it is replaced with violent video games, sassy kids dictating the terms of the home, and parents who would rather make tik toks than be present with the family. Todays kids aren’t given time to daydream, create or play. Instead they are pushed into travel ball programs where every waking moment is either spent at practice or playing a game in an attempt to make them into the next MVP. Ten steps to be a million dollar influencer, making THE perfect bento box lunch for the little, hair tutorials, yet another stupid dog voice over video are the things that capture our attention long before the one who made it all does.

Families are disintegrating left and right. Morals, values and ethics once held as the standard by which we live have quickly been replaced with whatever “feels” right to you, do it. Christians are silent in the face of it all. Sadly the corporate church is too. We have spent too much time trying to fit in when he has called us to stand out. Jesus didn’t go about acting like everyone else. His thoughts, his heart, his actions all radically different than those around him who considered themselves the religious leaders of the day. I would offer this that he was the perfect influencer. His following was history making and the lives he touched and changed were recorded for all to read and experience 2000+ years later.

So how do we change this? First the adults on the planet need to act like adults, put down the phone, unplug the video games, decommission the Ipad and chuck the Nintendo switch off the nearest bridge (not really, well maybe). Take your littles or not so littles on a walk and discover what might be in your own back yard. Go outside at night and look at the stars and moon with a telescope. Drag out the fire pit you never use and light it up, make smores and talk, dream, laugh. Go camping, go hiking, go biking. Just go. Do. Experience all he has for us, all me has made.

We were made to do life face to face not through the lens of a camera, or on unsocial media or staring at a screen while videos whiz by. We were made for him by him. Lets return to our first love. Jesus. Lets shift our focus from ourselves to him. Lets look for places where he can be seen, experienced and felt. Places that ignite a spark within. Places that capture our attention because it brings attention to him. Lets try to see the world through the eyes of your kids again. Wonder and awe at creation. Discover things, places, people, ideas. Daydream together, create something and play. Tell them who he is, take them to church, show them his world, help them see him everywhere, see his power, his sovereignty, his holiness. Most of all his love.

Copyright©2022 Melanie McKinley.  All Rights Reserved