Soul Sighing
Sometimes my soul gets tied up in knots. I don’t know if that’s theologically correct, but that’s how I feel sometimes. Life gets crazy and my soul needs a break. A remembering of what life is really about. There are things in my life that just make my soul go, “ahhh”. I first started feeling this the most at my parents cottage. I would walk down to the beach with my kids, observe them running around, look at the water and just go ahhh. There’s a magical moment that happens when the sun is setting just enough to make the water sparkle all around the kids, when their laughter carries on the breeze and another day of memory making is almost done. I used to think that it was the water that untangled my soul, but I started noticing it in other places too. Some days just walking into my church is enough to do it. Some days its words from other people, time spent in devotions or seeing the kids face light up when they learn something new in school.
The common denominator in all these events that untangle me is that they are all moments when I slow down enough to be reminded of what’s really important. To dwell on something spiritual, to be a part of something bigger than myself or to remember that the little moments are really the biggest.
Twice on this amazing trip to California my soul has gone, ahhh. One was when we went to see the Sequoias. If you ever get the chance, you should see these amazing trees. I heard a man, who obviously looked like a preacher, walk by and say, “we need to have an outdoor service here. Its like a beautiful cathedral.” I’ve seen some beautiful places of worship, but no one can build them like God! When you stand beside something so large, you can’t help but think of how amazing God is. I cannot begin to describe the majesty and beauty of that forest. Just being there is like being in a sacred place of worship to the mighty, imaginative Creator. I rubbed my hands on the strange bark and dwelt on the fact that their Creator loves me. Unbelievable.
My second soul sighing was this morning in church. We came down here for the Spiritual Leadership Conference at Lancaster Baptist Church. To walk into a massive church I had never been in before, where I knew absolutely no one and yet feel perfectly at home worshiping together with these dear people made my soul sigh. The choir sang an amazing song and then we sang “Wonderful Grace of Jesus” together. There in that room were hundreds and maybe thousands of people who believe the same things I do, worship the same God, fight the same battle. Wow. I even got to hear Ron Hamilton, or Patch the Pirate, sing a brand new song he just wrote. Talk about capping off a song service. Put together with a great preacher, my soul feels great. Its these moments that keep me going. Sometimes I don’t even realize that my soul is tied up in knots. Sometimes soul sighing comes when I plan for it, sometimes unexpectedly. Sometimes in the big moments, but most often in the small. But the reminders are always there. If I look for them.
