Over the weekend I was able to get away to Lake Michigan with my family.
On the second night of the trip I witnessed a beautiful sunset that I wanted to share with my three year old daughter.
As hard as I tried to get her to come outside and enjoy the view, she just wouldn’t.
Kids can be so difficult some times. As an experienced parent, (my daughter has an older brother) I knew I had to work another angle to entice her to come outside.
The solution was bubbles. What child doesn’t love bubbles? If I could just get her outdoors, it will be impossible for her not to notice the sky.
While I succeeded in getting her outdoors, I failed in getting her to look beyond the floating bubbles onto the setting sun.
Life has a way of clouding our view of the Son, as floating bubbles/distractions come our way.
I believe just as I fail to see God’s beauty at times, my lack of focus doesn’t change God’s feelings toward me.
He enjoys being with me even when I can’t seem to appreciate what is right in front of me.
The good news is God is doing a work in me (Ephesians 3:20) that will help me to better receive things that are way better than I can even imagine. He is at work in us, inviting us to engage in His purpose for the world, with an opportunity to gaze at the wonders of His hands all along the way.
The sun was now getting extremely close to disappearing over the horizon. I had mere moments left.
In a last ditch effort to get her to set her attention on the dazzling colors all around her, I propped her up on the table for a better view.
What I didn’t know was the table was constructed with a built in lazy Susan in the middle. My best efforts to enable my daughter to watch the sunset, simply enhanced her bubble blowing experience as she could now spin and blow bubbles at the same time.
The sun finally set without my daughter ever acknowledging its beauty but the moment was not wasted. We had a wonderful time blowing some colossal sized bubbles and I realized the real gift was being with my daughter.
There is a day coming when the two of us will gaze up at the sky together in awe. Until that day comes, I am going to take great joy in watching the sunset while trying to catch bubbles.
David said in Psalm 92:1-2: It is good to give thanks to the LORD and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High. To declare Your loving kindness in the morning and Your faithfulness by night.
I wonder if David wrote that while he was looking up at the sky, giving thanks to God, and enjoying the presence of his bubble blowing daughter sitting next to him.
The Rev. Dr. Matthew Webster is pastor of First Congregational Church of Clarkston