As we left the drive-through, I happened to notice two identical cars crossing our path–little red hatchbacks. In a split second, I got to thinking about the color red, and how much I love red cars.
My last car was a little red Yaris which my son has been using to go back and forth to school. The one I’m driving now is a cherry red Volkswagen Beetle convertible. By the way, if you like Volkswagen Beetles, you’re my kind of girl. If you love vintage Volkswagen Beetles, we’re best friend forever! My dad had a light yellow Beetle back in the day. With a trunk barely large enough to fit Mom’s purse, our family of eight managed to make do with one car. One adorable car. And I’ve loved them ever since.
What do two little red cars have to do with anything? Not much really, except for the fact that I took note of their color.
“Think about the color red,” I told my son. “Now look over at the mall parking lot. Do you notice all the red cars?”
We both did. And for the next ten minutes, I also noticed the red stop signs, the red advertisements lining the street, and the little red convertible that turned left on the highway as we waited for our light. I got to thinking about this idea just now, and I really don’t remember seeing any yellow, blue, black, or silver cars. Obviously, I must have driven by hundreds of them today, but there isn’t a single one I can pinpoint, and definitely say, “I remember passing that car.”
Do you know what this tells me? We tend to notice the things we’re looking for. Let’s change the word “things” to blessings for a minute and see how powerful the human mind can be.
We tend to notice the blessings we’re looking for. On the other hand, the blessings we’re not looking for are driving right past us.
Each and every day God is blessing us in a million little ways. Some days we stop to count our blessings, but unfortunately other days we simply don’t. Some days we wake up on the wrong side of the bed, and all we’re focused on is what we don’t have, what we can’t get fast enough, what we’ve lost, and what we might not get tomorrow.
But, on those days when we’re looking for the good in this world, the goodness of God, and the good in others we start to notice the blessings around us.
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. (Philippians 4:8, KJV)
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Tilling the Soil
Keep your eyes open this week. Notice the blessings around you.
Planting Hope
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. (Philippians 4:8, KJV)
Darlene Schacht and her husband Michael live in Manitoba Canada where the summers are beautiful and the winters are cold. Together they’ve come to learn that relationships aren’t always easy, but that marriage, the way God intended it to be, is a treasure worth fighting for.
She began her publishing journey about twelve years ago when she pioneered one of the first online magazines for Christian women, known at the time as “Christian Women Online Magazine.” After three years, Darlene left CWO to blog as a solo author at Time-Warp Wife Ministries.
It was also during this transition that she worked alongside actress Candace Cameron Bure to write the NYT Best-Selling book, Reshaping it All: Motivation for Spiritual and Physical Fitness. Reshaping it All was the winner of both the 2011 USA Best Book Awards and the 2012 Christian Reading Retailers Choice Awards.
Author of more than 15 books, Darlene continues to write and to minister to her readers through her blog at TimeWarpWife.com.
Connect with Darlene:
Facebook: @timewarpwife
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Twitter: @timewarpwife
You are loved by an almighty God,
Darlene Schacht
The Time-Warp Wife