For Spring Break this year my husband, Barry and I took our son, Christian and one of his buddies to Nassau in the Bahamas. As I spend so much time traveling I was able to use air miles to get four free tickets. We just had to pay for a hotel room and the vast quantities of food that twelve-year-old boys can consume on a daily basis. Our hotel was located on Paradise Island which I have to say is well named. I was struck by the beauty of the tropical flowers, the fragrant trees and fascinated by the small yellow and black fish swimming in the shallow waters. I have always found the ocean to be very healing for me. I grew up by the sea on the west coast of Scotland and spent many hours walking the length of the beach even in the wildest winter weather. Each season seemed to bring its own beauty.

One morning during our stay in Nassau as I was heading down from our hotel room to join Barry and the boys I stopped for a moment to watch a humming bird collecting nectar from a lily. I watched this tiny creature hover in the air; its wings beating so fast I could hardly see them. Suddenly I became aware of someone’s hand on my arm. It was one of the hotel’s security guards, who wanted to know if everything was all right.

“Look,” I said, pointing to the tiny bird. “Isn’t that beautiful?”

He said, “I used to watch the little birds when I first came to the island but I never notice them anymore.”

As I sat on the warm sand that day I wondered what I miss now that I used to be fascinated by? As a young girl I used to lie on my back on a blanket at night and watch the stars. When our son was born I used to watch him sleep, fascinated by every little move he made or watch our two dogs chase each other around the house. We live in stressful times and usually at breakneck speed so it’s easy to miss all the beauty that God had put along our path. So, today I intend to take a few little detours and stop, even for a moment to be reminded that God is still in control and all creation tells of his goodness.

“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”

Matthew 10:28-29 (NKJV)

Check back on Monday’s and Thursday’s for new posts from Sheila.