Page 149 came with an uncertainty of how any of us would be doing following Susan’s seizure yesterday.  Susan was definitely the worst off as she had fought hard coming out of this one.  MJ and I had our share of aches and bruises from trying to protect Susan and keep her from seriously injuring herself or us, but we all seemed to have slept well.  I was awake early enough to catch the sunrise again and it was beautiful.  While I was along the seawall early, a dolphin swam by and eventually joined a small pod of them that I could see playing in the distance.  While we were all up early, we decided to visit a nearby county park before the holiday weekend traffic got too bad.  Our first stop had me pulling out the 600 mm lens I had rented for my camera as an osprey was perched near where we had parked.  We spent the rest of the morning visiting 4 different county parks, including a botanical garden, where we took quite a few pictures of birds and flowers.  At one of our stops, as I was photographing some water lilies, I noticed a dragonfly near me so I took the photo that made today’s page.  After the parks we had lunch then came back to our room and headed to the beach for the afternoon.  The beach time was followed by a walk to the ice cream shop and then I grilled chicken and mushrooms for supper.  By then, it was nearly time for the sun to set so we headed back to the beach to see that.

As I reflect on the day, the dragonfly photo seems to say a lot to me.  So much of what I photograph are things that are in plain sight — I don’t often go far out of my way or off the beaten path, so to speak, to find subjects that I find interesting, beautiful, or majestic.  I have seen dragonflies all my life but this is the first I have ever photographed one and I was amazed at the incredible detail that was captured.  We have become a culture of people who long for the big show.  We want something remarkable that will get our attention and keep it.  We become so focused on ourselves and our own agenda that we have little interest in observing the majesty of God which surrounds us.  As sad as that is when it comes to things and the details of nature, it is even more heartbreaking when we begin to believe that some people are “too little” to be noticed.  We tend to set arbitrary standards that have no resemblance to any standards God has set, and we demand that people measure up to our list of qualifications before they can be noticed and eventually be useful in the work God created them to do.  As I look back on my life, and particularly on my life in ministry, I have had people who have believed I was “little” and even got me to believe it at times simply because I didn’t have the formal education they decided was mandatory.  I’ve had a preacher, elders, and board members tell me directly that I had no business being in ministry if I didn’t have the all-important college degree.  To them, I was too “little” to be noticed or useful.  The good news is that God has put people in my life who are preachers, elders, and board members that value the giftedness God has put within me and the consistently affirm my usefulness to them and to the work of the kingdom as I put into practice the things God has called me to do.  I share that not to point to myself, but to point to the dragonflies in our churches and in our lives.  We see them constantly but we’ve probably not paid attention to the beautiful detail God has created in their life to accomplish an important work in His kingdom.

I pray that you and I would value the “little” people even while realizing the truth that there really aren’t any from God’s perspective.  I pray that we would pay attention to the lessons God attempt to teach us each day from sources that often come as a surprise.  I pray that we would not dwell on the times we have been viewed as “little”, but use those as learning experiences in the way we see others.