To me I see peace, quiet and time with God.
Yesterday my very thoughtful husband drove me out to visit my steer. He is "hangin" with a bunch of rather large momma cows right now in a field where he is supposed to be eating and getting fat. He's easy to spot when you first arrive as he is brown with a lovely white streak down the center of his head. Beautiful really, even for a silly cow. His hind end & tail covered in cow ca ca... if you get past that and stare into his eyes, which are deep and brown and full ...You are in love. Okay, maybe not you.. but most certainly me.
When we first brought him home, he being "Chicken". Chicken required bottle feeding and lots of loving. My daughter and I would wake early in the morning and make the trek out to where he was staying to feed him. Many mornings without complaint she went along but chose to stay in the car as it was chilly and there wasn't much excitement for then, an 8 year old.
I on the other hand couldn't wait to drive down the dirt road, watching the old fence that lined the drive, seeing old rotting barns and looking for that silly calf who would be curled up somewhere trying to stay warm.
Rounding the corner I would see him, his eyes perked up as he came over and in those moments of feeding him those bottles I found a peace like none other. There was something very moving, comforting and peaceful about nurturing that little guy. I loved him, I rubbed on his ears, I hugged on him, I chased him to get him to move about. We began our journey together. I would go out on my lunch hours for no other reason than to just feel the presents I did when I was with him. It isn't something I'm able to explain and seems rather silly I imagine from the outside looking in. But it was and is real, even today.
Yesterday when we drove out to see him. He stood there among the herd, they began to move and shift as I walked out. I knelt down, as I often did when he was little and I clapped and I talked to him. And as I did this, my bracelets (which I wear daily) clanked together. I intentionally wiggled my hands in such a way that Chicken would hear my bracelets. It has in a funny way, come to be my "sound". When my children are looking for me, they listen for my bracelets. And funny enough as those bracelets clanked together, the sound of the metals perked up Chicken's ears and his eyes were focused, on me.
As I sat there knelt down, that sweet baby I nursed by bottle, stood there as the others walked away and he watched me. We starred at one another for a long time. I stood up and walked a bit closer, those in the herd who were near slowly moved. He stood there, looking. As I walked closer, the herd moved faster and my sweet Chicken began to move to. There was a part of me that was a bit sad he didn't let me come right up to him. However, there was an equal piece of me that was glad he was feeling comfortable with his herd and I enjoyed watching them all move together as though they were looking out and protecting one another. Crazy? Oh I suppose it is!
I miss my mornings in that ordinary barn, on ordinary mornings with an ordinary calf ~ because those mornings, they were anything but ordinary. They were an amazing gift from God, a peace, a comfort and a sense of belonging. Nothing ordinary about those moments!
Today as I move through my day and it appears to be "ordinary" I will think about what isn't so ordinary at all.
In each day there is a blessing and sometimes they come in the most unforeseen ways, simply presenting themselves as ordinary - it is all a matter of perception in making them extraordinary!
"Blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn't see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn't hear it. " Matthew 13:16-17