Purpose
My 7 year old son walks down the high school hallway every afternoon to find his mom, the math teacher. On the way, he waves at the 6 foot tall football quarterback and shares a joke with the 16 year old who shares his name. Last week, he came in the school building after capturing a huge moth (5 inches across) and had to show it off to the cooks in the cafeteria, the gym teacher, and any of the teenagers hanging around in mom’s classroom. My students oohed and ahhed over the moth and commented on how much this little guy knew about bugs and wildlife. The next day, one of my students brought in a lovely 2 inch spider and her own very large moth, just so she could show it to my son.
There’s something about that little guy that just attracts those teenagers like moths to a front porch in summer. It makes me smile. The kids can already tell that my son loves anything wiggling, squirming or breathing outdoors. We call him our little wildlife biologist in training for a reason. He has hawk eyes that notice the smallest details and find living creatures where no one else notices. There’s been a few times where he has told us that he saw something in the woods and we didn’t believe him because it sounded implausible. But, then we looked more closely and realized he was right – there was a beaver in the lake, a turtle in the yard, a frog on the tree. He loves exploring the outdoors so much that he will wake up and immediately ask if he can go look for frogs at the culvert down the road, spend hours fishing, hunting and collecting salamanders, never once noticing the passing of time. He is passionate about the outdoors.
I wonder if we have that same kind of passion in our pursuit of God? Are our eyes tuned in to His presence all around us? Are we on the lookout for His work in everything we see? Could we just spend hours at His feet, exploring His many wonders? Do we wish we had all day to just spend with Jesus? When we find something special in the Word of God, are we like little children carrying it around and showing it to everyone we meet because we are so excited at what we found? Do we love God so much that everyone around us knows how passionate we are? When I see my son’s eyes light up because of a butterfly he found or the tadpoles he’s growing, I am reminded of the wonder in this world. I want to light up with the joy of my salvation and the amazing honor of knowing God, being known by Him and being loved.
We all “know” my little guy will be a biologist someday (of course we’ll let God direct his steps-he is only seven!) because of his consuming passion for everything alive. I hope those around me know that I am a stuent of God, a woman of prayer, a person in love with Jesus because of my passion.
How do your friends and neighbors know about your passion?
Pursuing Him with you, Heather
May you be sweetly blessed.
Your little guy sounds like he is having fun exploring his surroundings.
I hope that people around me see the passion I have for God. May I let His light shine through me every day of my life.
I enjoyed your post. I have a 7 year old boy too. I appreciate your thoughts and liked this line: I want to light up with the joy of my salvation and the amazing honor of knowing God, being known by Him and being loved.
What a great goal to think about each morning.
Bethany