I just got back last night from my time in Portland with my daughters. And, today as I'm taking it easy, I got to smiling about some time I had with my granddaughter, Jillian. She's five, cute as can be, a deep thinker, sensitive and soaks up everything I tell her. One of the things she likes me to do is to tell her stories about me when I was a little girl.
The story I told her this visit was how my grandma loved Jesus so much and that it was at my grandma's knee as a five-year old ("just like you, Jillian) that I opened my heart and invited Jesus to come in and take over. She watched and listened as I shared the prayer I prayed with my grandma.
As a grandma, it's my desire to leave a legacy of five things with each grandchild. I want them to know that God loves them, that He answers prayer, that others need to know about His love for them, that He made them special and that He has a unique purpose for their lives and finally, that it's very important to have a thankful heart.
Because I believe having a thankful heart is a way we know God more, I decided to teach Jillian about "Beauty Pauses." I told her that God likes it when we take time, slow down and take notice of the little gifts that He's giving us all the time. I said a "gift" was something that we might see or hear and it would make us 'catch our breath'....and then cause our heart to think of God....and thank Him. We practiced experiencing some Beauty Pauses together. We noticed the vibrant purpose color in the butterfly bush in her back yard. We let the garden of flowers that her mother planted be another Beauty Pause. A blue bird flying toward us was another Beauty Pause. It was delightful to watch her little face as she caught on having fun with Beauty Pause Moments.
Today, I had a Beauty Pause. It was a mental picture. I thought of Jillian. I thought of her playing with her little PetShops. I thought of her being tender to her baby sister as she moved her away from her own play times. I also thought of her working on having self-control with her older brother who loves to tease her. I pictured her in her pig-tails and pink striped shirt. My memory became a sweet Beauty Pause.
Missing her, I picked up the phone and called her. "Jillian, guess what?"
"What Nana?"
"I had a Beauty Pause today?"
"You did, what was it that made you catch your breath and think of God?"
"I was thinking of you, Jillian."
"Nana, I miss you."
"Jillian, I miss you."
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