Roadrunner

up close and personal with a roadrunner!

I wasn't quite sure what this little roadrunner was going to do as he came strutting toward me!

Resting on the chair!

Sunning him/herself?

Ok, now I'm really dating myself. Do any of you remember the cartoon "The Roadrunner"? Alright, admit it, you just went "Beep, beep!" and started singing, "Roadrunner, you can catch him if you can", or however the song goes.

Well, this bird is an actual bird, and one comes to visit my parents' back patio quite often. A week ago we were sitting inside packing up Christmas gifts when lo and behold this little guy made himself comfortable on my folks' lounge chair on their patio.

I went outside to take more pictures, and while I tried not to startle him, he indeed got startled, but did a very odd thing in my opinion. He jumped down off the chair and started coming TOWARD me. I wasn't sure what to do, so I just stood, a bit frozen in my tracks and tried to click some pictures as fast as I could cuz he was living up to his name and running rather quickly. He came within about 2 feet of my feet and then jogged off into the bushes of the neighbor's house.

Later, I began thinking about how amazing it is when 'nature' makes its way into our lives...birds alight near us, butterflies rest on flowers or on our shoulders, coyotes come jogging across my folks' back yard, roadrunners sit on their patio chairs, etc. We are intrigued by them; often we stop what we are doing to observe them, take in their beauty and watch what they are doing; we grab cameras to capture the moment so we can remember the amazement of seeing wild beauty right up close to us; and often, we get very quiet so as not to startle the animal.

What about when God draws close to us...which, according to the Bible, He is continually moving toward us in love...what do we do? Do we stop what we are doing to observe what God is doing? Do we take in His beauty? Do we long to capture the moment in our journals or even just our hearts so we can remember the amazement of seeing His wild beauty drawing near to us? Do we get quiet in His presence to be able to hear His voice?

I'm humbled by the reality that I will quickly stop whatever I am doing to observe a roadrunner, but so often, when it comes to God showing up, I act like a roadrunner and dash away. Do I ever say, "Oh yea, it's just another roadrunner or another butterfly or another eagle...no biggie."? No way! I'm always newly intrigued, newly captured by the beauty and complexity.

However, I sometimes find myself saying, "Oh yea, it's God..." forgetting that He is the most amazing, beautiful, wonderful, intriguing being in the universe!!!!

Finally, does this lackadaisical attitude flow over into my relationships with people, God's highest and most precious creation of all? Do I just say, "Oh yea, it's so and so...I don't really need to pay much attention to him/her. It doesn't really matter how I treat him/her...here today, gone tomorrow."

How sad that at times, I will pay more attention to the roadrunner, than I will to my family or friends, or even more importantly, to God.