Are You a Noticer?

Riding home from a long weekend away with my husband, and dreaming out loud about a possible country home, urban townhome, or remodel of our own home, I blurted out the words…
I know the doors I want!

He laughed.
Because he knows me.
And everything represents something to me.
So, he asked about the doors.

I had seen them at a local restaurant a few years back and taken a picture because they literally took my breath away. Scrolling on my phone through years of pictures, I remembered the first time I saw those doors. I had gasped. Literally. It’s kind of embarrassing now, but I had stopped abruptly, caught my breath and slowly started walking toward them with a sense of awe. Seriously.

I know it sounds crazy, and probably looked crazy if anyone was watching, but it was truly an extraordinary and surprising reaction.

I pay attention to things like that.

When something stands out that others don’t see there is usually a reason.
Because meaning is all around us.
We just miss it if we don’t live noticing.
And even when we notice, unless we look for meaning in what we notice, we miss out on what God is revealing to us.

So, as I scrolled, I began to ask why those doors captivated me.
They are beautiful.
Solid wood through and through with metal décor.
They are strong.
Strength and beauty.
That’s what they represent to me.
Strength and beauty together.

Because strength without beauty is coarse power.
And beauty without strength is weak vanity.
But beauty and strength together are an expression of grace and power.
An expression even of God.
A grace-filled, powerful, beautiful, loving God.

He reminded me of that through those doors.

Finding the picture, I turned to Mike who was navigating highway traffic and triumphantly held my phone up to show him (ta daaaaaaaa) the doors!

Slowing and carefully glancing back and forth from my phone to the cars around us, he expressed more enthusiasm than he felt, I am sure. But he knew they were important to me, and he tried.

That’s another thing I noticed.

It matters to me that others are not only validated but celebrated.
Mike’s efforts reminded me how I value that.

Try living as a noticer, and this won’t sound nuts.

Our visceral reactions tell us something about ourselves.

Those doors were screaming of my love for strength and beauty.

Mike’s efforts were whispering of my love for validation and celebration.

There is treasure in both the screams and the whispers.

Live noticing.

Brenda is a believer in impossible possibilities. In brokenness becoming beautiful. In justice and mercy and honor and power – with love perfecting them all. She is a wife, mom, mimi, daughter, and friend who also enjoys speaking, writing, and coaching.