God’s Sweet Autumn

The Age of Distraction

There was a special maple tree of my childhood at the edge of my parents’ driveway.  I spent some considerable time on its branches, just lost in thought, appreciating the view. Likewise, the most time I ever spent looking out a window at the wide world was on road trips to vacation destinations.  Those simple practices, unknowingly at the time, were welling up a gratitude within me. To see beauty in cornfields, mountains, sunsets, and trees was to see God working in the world.  And even today, I am still that person in our car that gets a little too excited if I notice a pasture dotted with black and white cows.

My enthusiasm is usually met with a few murmurs from the backseat. The tablets and phone are just so much more thrilling than a hundred Holsteins.

Let’s be honest…it’s not just the kids.  We adults struggle with the pull of technology, too. Just look around the room at a family birthday, or after Thanksgiving dinner.

I know that personally, the lure of my phone has increased in the past few years. In many ways, living so attached to my technology causes me to detach from the Lord, my family, and many tasks at hand. It’s living with a mind divided, and constantly at the ready to receive the pings of notifications. 

Perhaps it’s a struggle for you, too?

But, maybe it’s not a new struggle, humanly speaking. In previous decades, it may have been the new family computer.  And prior to that, the multiple televisions in the home. Yes, it seems that the distraction of technology has been there for a while. 

With it fitting snugly in the palm of our hands,  however, likely this generation’s struggle with distraction is much more complex.  There is an ever-present, nagging worry inside of me that my children and their generation will have more difficulty walking with the Lord, and pursuing Him on purpose.

Their minds are wired for quick, easy, and entertaining.  There’s more noise now than ever. There’s more feedback now than ever. Living in a state of nearly-constant scrolling and watching chattering YouTubers, conversations with people are challenging, let alone conversing with God. 

When the electronic devices of this day direct our every thought & every move, it seems the power of Holy Spirit is pushed away.

Oh, He is present, for sure. But, us? We are elusive, preoccupied.

Our awareness can be dulled or completely gone altogether. Dull with checking emails… dull with commenting on pictures… dull with browsing online sites endlessly… with as much as we can do on our phones, it can truly make our minds dull to the life in front of us.

The cure for this dullness lies within these phrases:

“How clearly the sky reveals God's glory! How plainly it shows what he has done! Each day announces it to the following day; each night repeats it to the next. No speech or words are used, no sound is heard;”

                                                                        Psalm‬ ‭19‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭

Our children and theirs that follow must learn to live in awe of the world created by God. He is, after all, the first influencer, content creator, and blogger (see Genesis to Revelation).  He is still reigning king, our guiding Holy Spirit, and risen Savior. 

Long, healthy doses of looking up and around in this world- that’s the antidote. The remedy also lies in digging into the Bible and discovering truth, rather than scrolling through the world’s ideas.

Parents & grandparents, if we can enjoy a sunset stroll without a phone, so can they. If we can model a family holiday without a phone, so can they. If we can read the Word, star-gaze, enjoy a dinner, spend some friend time, sit at the beach…..all without a phone, so can they.

Let’s be mindfully encouraging this next generation that boundaries with technology are ESSENTIAL to walking with Jesus. Usher the wonder of this world purposefully into their days—- just be sure to put your phone on the counter, too. 

Psalm 8

“LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.

Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?

You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.

You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet:

all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild,

the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.

LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Photo by Marina Liashchuk on Unsplash

The Bus Stop Walk

It’s August yet again! That statement comes with a shred of disbelief. (It always does.)  I am just sitting in the quiet of this long morning, thinking of the routine to come in a couple weeks which is accompanied by much organization, hustle & bustle to get everyone where they need to be. 

My blog has fallen silent for a while. I was a busy mom this summer, and it left little time for pondering, let alone writing much down.  But now, thoughts are turning to a new school year. For me, in my 19th year, I am starting a new venture in 4th grade. My kids will be in 6th and 2nd grades.

In education, we talk often about ‘best practices’…what works well, what keeps things moving smoothly along in the classroom.  I would love to share one of my favorites that works right here at home, daily, before school begins.

The stretch of road you see above is our brief walk to the bus stop before my son, Colby, crosses the road and waves goodbye for a day of middle school. The steps to get there are few but very precious to me as a mama.

In all, it’s about a 60-second walk, but we make sure that for most of those 60 seconds, each morning, we invite our loving Lord to be a felt presence in Colby’s day. This short path has also heard prayers of healing, pleas for guidance, and the asking of blessing in the friendships that we keep.

It may not seem like much, but I know neither length nor simplicity of prayers diminish their impact. Give or take a few days, it’s 180 times a year that I can very intentionally cover my son in prayer for his day. It’s a best practice of a believer raising up a believer.  Praying WITH him, and not just FOR him has been a very practical step to building up his faith foundation.  

I love to imagine that it delights the heavenly realm each day as we start out from the driveway, faithfully calling on God…sometimes in warm, early autumn beams of sunlight and other times, rushing out into a dark, frigid & snowy daybreak.  Just as my son is equipped with backpack, notebooks, and water bottle, I also like to think of our morning prayers as a last before-you-get-on-the-bus safeguard for the day ahead.

These middle school years are formative, uncharted, exciting, and a bit rough. But Philippians 4:6-7 instructs us, “Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.” 

These days will surely pass, and one day, some years down the road, Colby will drive himself to school. I also love to imagine that our sacred ‘best practice’ finds its way into those car rides… embedded into a faith that is all his own.

Our daughter, Hope, gets this prayer time, too, in the car ride to school. We get to share a bit more conversation in the morning, and then she is off to her classroom which is right within the building I also teach in. One day, though, this special stretch of road will be hers and mine as well. ❤️

Lord, thank you for walking with us at all times. Thank you for this stretch of road.  I pray that faith is strengthened in our kids when we purposefully invite You into our day, every day. I ask that each parent who might read this, be encouraged to have prayer time with their own children on a regular basis. May You show us how “wonderful it is when Christ displaces worry at the center of our lives.”  Amen!