I’m on a “work beach trip” (yeah right) with some amazing spiritual sisters and my “work” is supposed to be writing. So far I’ve slept (until 8AM every day, what the what?), eaten good food, drank a little wine, talked into the dark, received prayer, prayed for others, discussed husbands, kids, family, dogs, art, the Bible, literature, politics, exercised (really? I prioritized exercising over writing?), watched my friends work, surfed the web, sat on the porch, listening to the sounds of the lovely Outer Banks Sound, anything I can think of to avoid the task at hand. (PS I’m not complaining.)
But why does this always happen to me? Why am I so dang rebellious that I do things I even kind of hate instead of what my “work” is supposed to be? Why do I sacrifice quiet time with God for folding the laundry? Really?
Why do I neglect making that encouraging phone call to a hurting friend and instead decide I need to make an emergency trip to TJ Maxx? (Did you find everything you needed?) What the heck? I spent $250.00 on who knows what when I was really only trying to avoid doing what I should be doing, what God has been prompting me to do?
Why do the great things, the life-giving things take backseat to the trivial? Why do I decide to do a tummy wrap instead of visiting my 96 year old housebound dear dear mother-in-law?
The things that bring me peace, that bring me happiness, that share God’s love are the first thing the enemy tries to steal from me. Every single morning.
My prayer today is that I’ll ignore the constant batting of the gnat and gaze upon the incredible butterfly. That I’ll draw the butterfly or write a poem about him and share him with another. Someone today needs to know about your butterflies. It’s downright highway robbery to be worrying about your gnats.