Walking the Dog and a Noticing “How To” {Day 3}

Cooper headed for the door when he saw me coming with his green leash. The heavy-duty one because he has chewed through the last couple. The rambunctious puppy willingly yielding. It is early October, perfect weather for dog walking and taking everything in.

We go around the curve and I notice the tree that is soon going to be a fiery red. The neighbors that are putting in new windows. I acknowledge the fact that our neighborhood gets more acorns than any other in the world. My jerking arm notices just how many squirrels our dog would like to chase. (Those last two are connected)

I am amazed by how much more I see when I am walking. All these details that I don’t notice when I drive by, absorbed in my own world. When I’m slowed down, I have time to see. When I fly past, it is all a blur.

A few months ago, I had an email from someone suggesting that I teach a class on journaling. Maybe, I thought. Then these past few days I had some messages that had a similar theme. The all seemed to revolve around how exactly do you notice what you notice?

It got me thinking. I suppose when I say, noticing the moments, you have to first notice your heart. To believe that your heart is always ready to respond and that it is an essential part of who you are. An important part that we often shut off. And it all got me to pondering, how do we notice? How do we set up our lives to make noticing more likely.

Now I have to stop right there and say, I am not a ‘how to’ writer. I’m more of a ‘prose, reflective, sentences that get flagged for being fragments’, type of writer.

But I’m going to step outside my comfort zone, at least for one day per week of this series, and write more of a ‘how to’ post. Maybe.

In very broad brush strokes, in order to notice a moment you need to:

1. Create space or margin in your life.
   1. Don’t be afraid of the word solitude.
   2. You don’t have to become a 4^th century desert father to have solitude.
   3. Start small. Five minutes will do.
2. Start investigating the layers over your heart that keep you from living from it.
   1. Ok, that’s a big one. And a long-term one.
   2. Acknowledge there are events, beliefs, and decisions that have indeed closed off your ability to see with the eyes of your heart.
   3. Read truths from scripture about who you are, who you were made to be. (eg John 1:12, Romans 6:6, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 2:10, Philippians 4:19)
   4. Absorb yourself that the truth about who you are is what God says. Not what someone else has said. Not what your story has said. Those are all important parts of how we are shaped, but they do not define us. Only our creator can do that.
3. Write it down when you notice your heart responding.
   1. I didn’t use to have to do this. Now something impresses upon my heart and five minutes later I may not be able to tell you what it is.
   2. There is absolutely no right or wrong way to journal or record your thoughts. You are unique, so is your way of capturing it.
   3. Make time to prayerfully reflect on scripture, moments, words, images that have made an impact. Ask God it’s importance. Just be with him in it.

Ok, there are probably hundreds of books out there that will give you a much more complete plan for this. But you are reading this blog right now, so I pray it is a starting point. And we can dive into in deeper over this month.

In the next weeks I’ll write more on silence and solitude. On prayer and scripture meditation. (ahh feels good to get back to my fragments!) On some tips and tools to notice when God is speaking into our lives. I’ll also give some links to books and resources that have been impactful to me.

It is important. This noticing the moment stuff. When we get the clutter out. When we settle down our minds. When we set our hearts on things above. Then we have space and recognition of what matters most. And outside of some essentials on what he desires for all of us, what God is calling to matter most to you will be different than what matters most to me. And that is a good thing. That is the body of Christ.

What would you like to see discussed as we talk about the how to’s of noticing the moments?

I’m participating with The Nester in 31 Days of Noticing the Moment. This is Day 3.

You can find all 31 Dayers here. There are so many wonderful topics.

If you miss any days in the series, you can find introductory and each days post here. Or you can click on my cool button (over there on the right) that Lisa Beets designed.

Linking with Titus 2 Tuesday

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