Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!
—1 Chronicles 16:11 (ESV)
This morning on my drive to the grocery store, I took a shortcut through the local college campus. The sun was just rising, and there wasn’t a student in sight. The trees held a hint of crimson and bright orange, and as I turned a corner, there was a deer, a beautiful doe, standing on the side of the road, waiting exactly in front of the crosswalk. I slowed to a stop, and the doe met my eye, then turned its head and walked safely over the painted pavement to the other side.
I watched, a little distracted, thinking I should grab my purse, find my phone, and snap a photo or video, but I kept my eyes on the doe instead. For the rest of the drive to the store, I second-guessed my decision not to take a photo. Would anyone believe what I had seen? Did it matter?
I went back and forth between wishing I’d taken a video on my phone and glad that I’d sat right where I was and taken in the moment without removing my eyes from the road. It’s a weird struggle that social media and cell phones have created—this odd balancing between capturing experiences for others to see and fully experiencing them ourselves. But then my mind went to that unbelievable, magical moment of connection, when the deer met my eyes and made sure I had seen her, and I knew I had made the right choice.
Dear Lord, it’s easy to forget that this moment, right here, right now, is more important than anything else and that sometimes, most times, blessings are meant to be holy singular moments captured not on a screen but in our hearts.
Excerpted from Walking in Grace 2022.
