Lesson One

Just do it.  Sit down at the computer and write.  I've been talking about it for years now, so I guess there's no time like the present.  My head is full of all these thoughts and stories. . . it's about time I put them in writing.

This is a summer of hummingbirds.  It's surprising, since we are in the middle of a record drought and heatwave and all the plants are struggling just to stay alive.  Blooms are scarce.  And yet, there they are, those gorgeous hummingbirds, almost every time I walk out or even look out my kitchen window.  Buzzing about, flitting happily from bloom to bloom. 

Last week I went out into the garage and found one trapped in there.  The garage door was open, but the poor little hummingbird kept flying back and forth, perching temporarily on the garage door rails near the ceiling.  It seemed he didn't realize that he needed to fly just a little lower in order to escape.  I called my oldest to the garage to see.  In a near panic, he informed me that the hummingbird would die if he didn't get out because hummingbirds need to eat constantly in order to sustain their high metabolism.  (Wisdom gained from watching a nature show on TV, my oldest sucks in knowledge like a sponge and is armed with an endless collection of random facts.)  We rigged up a leaky plastic hummingbird feeder and hung it from the garage door, hoping to lure the hummingbird back to the open sky.  It must have worked, because when we went out later he was gone.

He just had to go lower.  It reminded me of a chapter in Ann Voskamp's book, One Thousand Gifts.  Love that book.  Life-changing it was for me when I read it.  Completely turned my perspective on life upside down.  And chapter nine is simply entitled, "go lower."  Because in God's economy, the way up is always down.  Humility is the path to gratitude and joy.  In order to soar to new heights, we must first go lower.

Instead, I often flutter unneccesarily back and forth. . . like that sweet hummingbird.  I can see the sky, but I can't figure out how to get to it.  Go lower. 

Lord, how I need Your grace.  Cleanse me of this pride and self-reliance that are so rampant in me.  Teach me humility.  Teach me to serve.  To literally be "down-to-earth," not squeamish of dirtying my hands with the work You would have me do.  Not afraid to let go of my own agenda.  Help me to follow Your way. . . to go lower. . . to fly.