There’s a funny thing about having a blog (and actually keeping up with it this time!) – it’s actually got me looking at things differently. It’s a little bit strange. I look at things and wonder, “Hmm … could I blog about that? How could I turn that into a post? What could I write about that?”

And do you what I’ve discovered?

You can find God anywhere. In anything. In everything. 

Seriously.

It’s pretty amazing. You may be thinking to yourself, “Lisa, you’re a pastor. Shouldn’t you know this already?” Okay, in my head, I knew that people always said, “You can see God in everything!” But I’ll also be the first to admit that life gets busy.

When you’re in seminary learning everything you’re supposed to learn to become a pastor, you’re focused on the paper you’re supposed to be writing and the sermon you’re supposed to be composing for class and the zillion pages you’re supposed to be reading and the applications/forms you’re supposed to be filling out for whatever denominational committee is overseeing your ordination journey. You barely have time to do something as essential as stopping to tie your own shoe, let alone stopping to smell the roses. (Maybe others had different seminary experiences. If they did, I heartily congratulate them. But that’s what seminary felt like to me.) And …

And …

And …

When you’re looking for a call to a church (or churches!), you’re so focused on searching through church profiles and reading and re-reading through your own profile to make sure it sounds like you and worrying about where God will call you and whether God will call you and how you’re going to get there. And …

And …

And …

When you’re a new parent, you’re both focused and completely unfocused at the same time. You’re focused on the little things like whether or not their toenails are growing right and you’re focused on the big things like whether or not they seem to be developing like the should – mentally, physically, socially, etc. You’re focused on getting them fed and keeping them happy and getting them to sleep and keeping them asleep! And at the same time, you’re so blasted tired that you’re completely unfocused at the same time. What day is it? When was that bill due? Who am I? What planet is this? And …

And …

And …

Okay, you get the picture. Life gets busy. Life gets hectic. I know this isn’t just a seminary/pastor/new parent thing. It’s a general-state-of-life-in-our-culture thing. And even though we tell ourselves we can find God in everything, we often forget to stop and actually look. 

I guess that’s what this blog has encouraged me to do – to stop and actually look for God in all those silly small things: in the snowflakes and the flickering of the candle and the baby food and the frost on the window and the way my baby boys smile when they sleep and the way the people in the congregations I serve love and care for one another. And …

And …

And …