365 : The Little Things

365:4

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If there's one thing I've learned in the past few years, it's that little things can make a big difference. A word, a glance, a hug, a few minutes of stillness, a nap, a sneaky-plan, a flash of unsuspecting beauty here & gone...

There are periods of my life where I just let the little things float on by, and in the process I tend to forget what's important. I really don't want to live like that. If you know me and you see me slipping into that... call me on it. :-)

So. One of my hopes for this coming year, and for life in general, is for eyes that see and ears that hear. I want to be captivated, captured, arrested, awed by God's active presence in and around me because He is near and He has dwelt here among us. Emmanuel.

There are lots of 365's floating around the interwebz, so this idea is not a Liz-original, but I'll take it & adapt it & run. With the lovely camera I received for Christmas (thanks Jeromie!), I hope to capture a few of the things that speak to me, hopefully one each day, and share some of them here (aesthetically pleasing or not).

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"To work on a book is for me very much the same thing as to pray. Both involve discipline. If the artist works only when he feels like it, he's not apt to build up much of a body of work. Inspiration far more often comes during the work than before it, because the largest part of the job of the artist is to listen to the work, and to go where it tells him to go. Ultimately, when you are writing, you stop thinking and write what you hear.

To pray is to listen also, to move through my own chattering to God, to that place where I can be silent and listen to what God may have to say. But, if I pray only when I feel like it, God may not choose to speak. The greatest moments of prayer come in the midst of fumbling and faltering prayer, rather than the odd moment when one decides to try to turn to God."

~ Madeleine L'Engle
Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith & Art