I see Him in the most unlikely of places now. He appears in my peripheral vision as I pray, when a bird appears suddenly on my windowsill. My heart stirs in an unusual way when I see the sunset and realize that He created the world with such intention. A smile comes to my mouth and my eyes when the clerk at the checkout line in the grocery store tells me to have a blessed day, and really seems to mean it.
Allowing more white space in my calendar invites stillness, which can be terrifying for many of us. It can be a bit uncomfortable starting the morning having so much unstructured time to fill as you look at all the blank space on the page. Many of us have too much on our plates and can’t begin to imagine what 30 minutes of quiet would be like, let alone eight hours. But, this is the place I found myself after moving to a new town once the children left for college.
God is Everywhere
Following our first move early in our marriage, I dug in my heels and allowed bitterness to burrow its way deeply into the crevices of my heart. A lot of statements with the word "never" played in a loop in my mind.
“I will never make friends.”
“This will never feel like home.”
“I will never like living here.”
Yet, God worked to slowly prove me wrong. I did make friends, our house became my home, and I cried and cried when I had to move again.
Are Our Eyes—and Schedules—Open?
What I discovered over the course of the next five moves is that God is present everywhere. We know this, and yet, how often do we live like we believe this truth?
I know a lot of us are busy by virtue of our vocations as mothers, wives, daughters, and friends. But, how many of our activities are crammed into the already-full planners entertaining us as we subtly move further and further away from recognizing God in our day-to-day lives?
A Scavenger Hunt for God
Turning your day into a scavenger hunt for God makes every minute an adventure. It can help you face the empty spans of time with hope rather than dread, or your busyness with peace rather than anxiety.
While God does not hide Himself from us, our multi-tasking minds make it difficult for us to find Him.
When my mind is playing a loop of the track I laid down full of “nevers” and “not going to happens,” it is nearly impossible for me to recognize God in my needy neighbor who inevitably stops me at my mailbox as I am hurrying out the door, late for my next appointment. I meet her in a rush of excuses and apologies, get in my car, and drive away with a undefined feeling that maybe I should have handled the conversation differently. Not liking the uncomfortable emotion, I listen to my favorite uplifting playlist to distract me from the questions that bubble up in silence.
Taking Notice
Our minds have the delightful way of beginning to notice what we are looking for. This season, I started to notice a certain color was coming back in fashion. Within days, I began seeing this shade of rust everywhere I looked. People were wearing rust, designers added rust accents to the rooms featured on decorating blogs. I stopped my scroll each time I saw rust on an Instagram post.
What would happen if you started looking for God in the same way you hunt for this season hottest shoes?
He Makes this Life Exciting
Conducting a scavenger hunt for God makes life more interesting. God is present in so many parts of our day that, in the past, we might have been too distracted to notice. Waking up wondering where He is going to show up today adds a little bit of excitement to an otherwise ordinary day. This shift in your frame of reference can happen no matter how busy your schedule.
Is He going to be in a phone call? Will He show up in the lightning in a late season storm? Will He be in the answer to a long forgotten prayer? Being on the lookout ensures you will not miss Him.
The Transformation
After I started my scavenger hunt, the conversations with my neighbor transformed. I began to notice the loneliness in her voice and see the relief in her eyes as we talked. When I was in a hurry, instead of avoiding her, I took the extra minutes to schedule a coffee visit for later in the week.
It is amazing the places you find God in your day when you are on the look out for Him.
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Katie Kibbe is a cradle Catholic, raised in Catholic schools in Houston. After getting married, she and her husband moved a lot, which allowed her to experience life in a way that she had not quite planned. To celebrate their 25th anniversary and empty nest, they moved to yet another new state. With two children (one in college and another in law school) and their Jesus-loving dog, they enjoy challenging themselves to try new things outdoors. Katie is the author of Abide: Resting in the Unfailing Love of God. She loves tea with steamed milk, a long walk outdoors, and deep conversations about Jesus. You can find out more about her here.
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