God smiles

It's time to sit and write something down. To write about things I see and things I imagine. To look in the mind's eye and describe what happened once, and then rewind and look at it from this perspective and that perspective and find ways to say "Hey! Stop the footage. God smiled at me there. At me!" Time to bask in His looking and smiling.

What makes you happy? This morning I heard this question and the first thing that came to mind was yesterday afternoon when Gabriel and I went on a bike ride, just the two of us. We dusted off his bicycle seat and hoisted my bike down from the rafters and took off around the pond and and into the neighboring community to a nearby park. Gabe rode in front of me and thank God we were riding in January because if it had been summertime my big goofy grin would have collected more bugs than my belly could hold. I was flying high.

Gabriel is a talker. A keep-the-commentary-coming talker whose delightful observations just fill the air so, so much of the time. He narrates his way through getting dressed, eating breakfast, making rockets out of Legos and picking out stories to read. He explains why he does things and why I do things and why his sisters do things and why life is hard for a four year old. "Things will be different when I'm five, right Mommy? 'Cause I'll be older when I'm five."

Gabriel narrated his way through our bike ride:

"Mommy, I want to ride through the whole day until it's nighttime, just you and me."

"Riding bikes is a lot of work!"

"When we see people ahead of us, we say 'On your left!'"

And then, four houses from home after returning from the park at a much slower pace than we went, he stopped completely. "Mommy, I can't go on any farther. I'm too tired." Four houses from home! With a little encouragement, he made it all the way.

The whole experience left me beaming. I felt lighter, filled with this radiant love. I love my boy, love my life, love that on that day, at that moment, God smiled on me so big that I felt His love pouring on me in torrents. I felt joyful. I felt happy.

What makes you happy?

What makes me happy is love.

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. (1 John 4:7-8)

God is love.

When Gabriel and I arrived at the park we took a few minutes to play. We raced each other to the top of the slide and swooshed to the bottom. Then we did it again and again. I pushed him--super high--on the swing and then he crossed the rope bridge and showed me how to hang from his armpits like a goof in his big padded coat. We laughed and giggled and wrestled and raced. We loved; and God smiled. What a beautiful smile He has!

My prayer is that the Lord would teach me to love well and to smile often.

The Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron and his sons, 'This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

"'The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.'"

"So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them." (Numbers 6:22-27)