This week we took off for a day of exploring one of the "hot spots" of Colorado. There are just so many places to see here that I'm not sure we will ever make it to them all. And what I am finding for sure is that the greatest treasures in Colorado are definitely off the beaten path. But Monday, we played tourist and visited the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. It was beautiful, of course, but a little too manufactured and crowded to count as an escape into God's creation for me. Still, it made for some great pictures and some good climbing rocks for the girls.
Monday was a tough day for us all. It felt like each one of us was experiencing something like an internal fight just to continue to step into the day. Mine and Kevin's brains were filled with things that we felt needed to be done and it was kinda hard to turn it off and trust God for our time. The girls were all really fussy. . .not sure why. My continued assumption. . .Satan absolutely hates that we are being faithful in this way. As much as God seeks to show up on these days with our family, so do he. And sometimes that just stinks. Sometimes he wins. Sometimes we get to the end of the day and can't help but think, "what the heck was that? Where was God in all of that chaos?" "That wasn't very relaxing or life giving." And the tendency is to give into the frustration of it all. But the truth of the matter is that God never promised it to be easy to follow him. He never promised a bed of roses for us to run through in slow motion with out hands in the air and a slow and beautiful soundtrack playing in the background. He only promised HIM.
And at the end of the day, we found him. He was faithful just like us (but so much more).
He showed up at the craziest place. . .yes, God goes to the mall, too.
We had to stop on the south side of Denver for dinner as an attempt to miss rush hour traffic, so we chose the mall - or maybe it chose us with that great big red American Girl sign hovering in the distance. We explored American Girl for a few minutes together and then had some good American food of Subway, Taco Bell and Sbarro Pizza. Then we set off for a walk and found ourselves in a little corner that was tucked away just for us.
Even during this time it was hard for grumpy girls to focus. But still, we were able to spend a few minutes sharing what we had each been praying for lately. Kevin talked about the story of the fish and the bread and how Jesus is the "bread." Interesting conversation. Then we shifted to how Jesus just wants us to want him and that's all. Then everything else falls into place. We ended by asking God a simple prayer. . ."God give us You." I don't think the girls necessarily understood. I'm think I'm still in the process of understanding that prayer myself. But I want it. I want to understand it and crave it and experience all that it means - for me and for our family.
Thanks, God, that even though we know you were with us every step of the day showing us your beauty, you chose to really be known in the least likely place.
Have you prayed that simple yet profound prayer lately? Maybe you should try it and see what God gives???
http://kevincolon.blogspot.com/2010/05/courageous-prayers.html
