I Stopped and Watched the Bird Bath

I miss Africa. I miss Cameroon. I miss Bamenda. I love my now life as bagging lunch mom, soccer mom, early morning carpool mom, volunteer mom. I know I am where God wants me to be for now.

But I need to slow down.  Oh too quickly I have jumped back onto the American trap of thinking that I am what I do. On mission, Pete and I had time for a cup of coffee out on the veranda before work. We had time to watch the kids play with Ruth the goat and her babies. We laughed as they climbed the tree for mangoes trying to avoid the ants. I miss our vacations to the beach and our long walks along the shore.

Today as I was multi-tasking-making dinner, making lunches, emptying groceries, doing laundry and returning phone messages, I glanced out the window and saw a robin in my bird bath. The heavy rained had filled my often empty stone bath. I paused to watch how gracefully she bathed, how free and fun she was, how beautiful her red belly was. And after her another bird jumped in for a bath.  A thought popped in my head that only old retired people sat and watched birds. But why such a silly thought. Aren’t we all called by God to “just be”.  To enjoy what God has put in front of us. To just be at peace. To be grateful for a moment. To just breathe in God’s love.

I don’t want to lose the gift that God gave me in Cameroon to treat time as a gift not a burden. Cameroon taught me to stop and greet everyone I see. To enjoy it moment for what it brings. I learned that time does not need to control me. I learned that it is not a sin to say “it can get done tomorrow”.

The dishes need to be done, but just for today, maybe I will let them wait and have a cup of tea and look out and watch the birds for a bit.

-Joy