As part of my exercise plan, I take walks in my favorite neighborhood park. This is a time for me to breathe, reset, pray and listen, with the added bonus of letting my legs move without much thought from me.
I’m fiercely protective of this time.
Over the years, I’ve fine tuned it to not being on my phone, or trying to make it ‘productive’ by listening to a book or podcast. It is both my most productive and least productive time. A time to let my mind wander.
This week, I’ve learned, there are others just like me. They come for the exercise, but there’s much more to these walks.
It’s a rare occurrence when I give up my solo walk, to walk with someone else. As I mentioned, I’m fiercely protective of this time.
But this week, as I got out of the car, I saw one of the usual walkers. He’s one of the few people I know by name and see almost daily. I stopped to talk to him. As he shared what was going on with him, I offered to pray with him.
When I was done, he looked at me and said ‘you’ve done this before’. I chuckled and responded ‘a time or two’. We chatted some more then parted ways. It had already been such a powerful morning of seeing God’s hand.
As I finished up my last lap, I said hi to another regular. Normally, we are walking in opposite directions, but this morning, I had made a switch, so we ended up walking next to each other. He slowed his pace, and as we talked, I even went a little further for him to finish sharing his testimony.
I was in total awe of how God had moved in his life, through the stories he shared. Time after time, he saw how God worked in his situation, even when others meant to harm him, God used the situation and provided far beyond his expectations.
He left me encouraged.
I say all of this to say: take time to notice those around you. We may not always have opportunity to engage in lengthy conversations, but we can recognize that sometimes those we see, may be fighting battles so deeply. Some, may be rejoicing as they think about how far they’ve come. And, we often cannot tell just based by passing by.
Let us endeavor to smile. To take time to notice.
As fiercely protective I am of my morning walk, I was so glad to have paused to enjoy the encounters I did.
Especially as we go into the holiday season. Let us remind others that they are seen.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you that you take time to notice us. That you take time to see us for who we are, and that you are never too busy for us. Would you allow us to slow down enough to notice those around us. We don’t know the needs, but when we slow down enough, you will whisper to us those who need an extra moment to be seen.