Looking For God

Monday’s quote has been a long time favorite of mine:

“THE FULLNESS OF JOY IS TO BEHOLD GOD IN EVERYTHING.”

How different this world might be if we all lived with the expectation that we would encounter God in the dailiness of our lives!

Instead, a good portion of us are walking around thinking that if God exists, then He (and He’s always a He!!!), lives in church buildings that require a certain code of conduct in order to get in.

Churches shouldn’t have the monopoly on God. Indeed, if God is G-O-D, then God cannot be contained to one particular church or set of beliefs.

Rather, God is everywhere. We only need to open our eyes to God’s presence made manifest in our lives; and it is often in the simplest experiences that God is the most palpable.

I have written before about our beloved dog Ty, who we’ve had for almost eight years. When I get home at the end of the day, Ty comes bounding out of the house and waits for me expectantly at the top of the stairs leading up to our front porch. His tail wags excitedly, and he goes straight for my hand as I ascend the stairs so he can shower it with kisses.

Does one ever feel as welcome by any person or institution as they do by a dog? Talk about complete, unabashed love and acceptance. We should all extend that same unconditional care to the people we encounter every day.

Sitting out on our back porch one morning last week, reading a book and drinking my coffee, I felt like I was resting in God’s arms as my eyes moved over every word and I savored each sip. Just when God couldn’t possibly seem closer, a flock of geese glided overhead, in perfect formation and squawking their little hearts out.

The geese theme popped up a couple days later on my way to work. In line at one of many roundabouts in our town, I smiled to myself as a family of geese brought the traffic circle to a halt while they took their sweet time crossing the street. It seemed to be God’s way of reminding me to slow down and savor the moments instead of blowing right by them.

Celebrating my son’s birthday two weeks ago provided many opportunities to notice God’s presence, and the most surprising one came on the car ride home after enjoying dinner together in Chicago. One of Sam’s playlists on his phone is titled, “Stone Age”, which contains songs that my husband and I each grew up with! One of our favorites is “Every Rose has its Thorn”, by the 80s band Poison.

There was something about singing the words to a song I’ve known for over 30 years, and then hearing our babies’ voices join in that made the moment holy. I didn’t want it to end, and I have since added that song to one of my playlists and have played it every single day since then. It takes me to a happy place.

By far, the most unexpected place I encountered God lately was in the midst of total chaos and frustration. In my job at church, I am responsible for the Family Faith Formation program, and we kicked it off the week before last with our first in person session in 18 months. I had planned and prepared for every foreseeable detail, only to find out our campus reservations had been cancelled, so we couldn’t even get into the buildings on time!!

After a call to the campus police department and my irritated explanation about what was happening, we were let into the buildings where the parent gathering space wasn’t set up at all, and the log in information for the teachers to access their classroom laptops was nowhere to be found.

I wanted to cry. I wanted to throw my hands up in the air and yell, “Why did I bother seeing to every detail when it can all fall apart in 60 seconds!?!” I was quite beside myself.

And then it all came together. Parents who arrived early set up the tables and chairs we needed, and distributed the handouts and nametags that needed to be at each place.

One of our teachers is a former student on this campus, so she tried her old credentials on the laptop and they worked, so she was able to pass them on to the rest of the teachers, and they could proceed with their lessons as planned.

I had no screen or laptop available for my own presentation, but somehow or other, the message I wanted to convey that day came across and people were engaged and appreciative.

God was there: keeping me calm (as much as could be expected anyway!), leading me in a positive direction, and helping me see the many blessings that were evident in the midst of the craziness.

God is not reserved to only quiet church spaces and pious devotional prayers. God is in the mess of everything that makes up our lives. That’s why “The Holy Mess” seemed a good title for this blog.

I hope you’ll never stop looking for God. And rest assured, God never stops looking for YOU!