The deeply rooted words for the year 2018 have been powerful. As I leave the month of July expressing and learning more about freedom, I find great joy in reflecting on the word “miracles”.  My youngest and I had a conversation on the miracles of Jesus during His ministry and present day miracles. We agreed that there are spectacular miracles in which science can’t explain the evidence, and that there are miracles that we miss because we don’t have the eyes to see or notice. As she gave heartfelt examples, I agreed with her, that in a world of apathy and anxiety, we miss the everyday miracles.

Several days after the conversation, she bounced into our bedroom and asked if we could watch a movie called “Miracles from Heaven”.

Oh my soul ached as we wept together at the mighty presence of a faithful God in this true story.  What blew my mind was the connections God made in my walk–He gave me eyes to see! We had been away on a purposeful trip to re-connect with our youngest. Intentional time to notice, talk, listen, love, and renew.  God took a desperate mom’s heart and spoke life into her heart through people, places, books, movies, and events. As I opened my heart to the miracles of God, He poured into my life. He took my ordinary life, and He said, “Look my child. I’m all around you.” I even received an email from a ministry in which her word for the month of August was miracles, too. What?! No way!

Oh the richness in my life because of a God who is personal and full of grace. As we were leaving our beautiful week to come home, the same colored butterfly brushed across my face in the parking lot of a coffee shop. I silently smiled, for the same colored butterfly presented itself at a time that my husband and I were talking over lunch a few days earlier. She came at just the right time in the conversation. In my silence, I prayed and said, “Thank you Lord–you make all things new.” I stepped in the car and noticed that my husband had taken a picture of the butterfly without even knowing my heart’s cry. It showed up on text as a reminder that we are in this together and connected by the Holy Spirit. By the way, I love the cigarette off to the side. God is showing me how to see His beauty in the chaos and within the good, the bad, and the ugly.  What will you focus on? The butterfly? Or, will you complain about the person who left the trash and be frustrated? We have a choice.

I wont give the movie plot away, but there is a scene in which a butterfly represented that same message for a little girl and her family. Miracles. Connections. Give us eyes to see them. The mother in the movie quotes Albert Eisenstein:

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

Yes!

My eyes have opened to all the miracles! Our creator God who has presented us with such overwhelming beauty through His creations that one could be overwhelmed by joy in every moment of the day. Lord, Give us eyes to see!