{"id":21,"date":"2015-07-10T02:06:00","date_gmt":"2015-07-10T02:06:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2016-04-01T18:09:51","modified_gmt":"2016-04-01T18:09:51","slug":"smelling-the-roses-and-tasting-the-bread","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/katiepolski.com\/?p=21","title":{"rendered":"Smelling the Roses and Tasting the Bread"},"content":{"rendered":"
I\u2019ve always struggled with the ability to stop and smell the proverbial roses.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>I see the flower and acknowledge the flower, but I rarely stop, smell, and take delight in it, unfortunately.<\/div>\n
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I had a dad who would stop and smell the roses.\u00a0 <\/span>There was little in life that he would let pass by without taking notice.\u00a0 <\/span>A beautiful sunset was not merely a pretty sight, but it was worthy of reflection and introspection.\u00a0 <\/span>A bowl of ice cream was not just a quick sugar fix, it was something to be savored and relished.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
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A few weeks ago I was watching some old home videos.\u00a0 What amazed me was not my eighties bangs, which was quite a sight let me tell you, but the amount of time Dad spent videoing things like the yard at our vacation house, the beach sand (not\u00a0exaggerating; he\u00a0literally videotaped the sand), and the various birds that he was watching at the time. \u00a0And the videos were mostly beautiful.<\/div>\n
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I may have yelled at the screen once or twice something along the lines of: “Dad, did you video any of us kids!” \u00a0<\/i>I was a little excited when I popped in my sister’s graduation party video. \u00a0In the first thirty seconds I saw two much younger (and kind of cute) sisters, some ugly bangs, and then…..the cat. \u00a0 \u00a0And he stayed on the cat for a ridiculously long time. \u00a0There were background voices of me as I greeted friends and family into the house, but on the screen was…the cat. \u00a0For the love.<\/div>\n
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But Dad loved it all – his work, his kids, his church, sunsets, and even that dumb cat. \u00a0And he didn’t just love these things, he took pleasure<\/i> in them.<\/div>\n
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Of late, I’ve been learning what it means to delight in the things that we have on this earth. \u00a0After all, God created them! \u00a0In his book, The Things of Earth,\u00a0author J<\/i>oe Rigney says this:<\/div>\n
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“God surveys the world of matter and time, of trees and their branches, of seas and their waves, of signs and seasons, days and years, and he has one reaction: \u00a0exceedingly good. \u00a0Over-the-top good. \u00a0Exclamation-point good. \u00a0Spike-the-football-and-end-zone-dance good. \u00a0It’s finite. \u00a0It’s temporal. \u00a0It’s limited. \u00a0And it’s very, very good.” \u00a0<\/i><\/div>\n
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I love this. \u00a0And God loved what he created. \u00a0Yes, our world is fallen and in need of redemption, and it’s not forever, but it’s still good. \u00a0Our world, as my husband puts it, is a glorious ruin. \u00a0And I believe we can enjoy God in enjoying this glorious place we’ve been given. \u00a0To enjoy our earthly pleasures without him is idolatry, but to enjoy them as drawing nearer to God through them is beauty.<\/div>\n
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My husband and I took a trip to Chicago last week. \u00a0There are two things I loved about this quick getaway: \u00a0food (um, Girl and the Goat. \u00a0I still lay in bed and think about that bread…amongst my other deep and spiritual thoughts, of course. \u00a0But that bread… ), and I loved watching my husband experience Bono.<\/div>\n
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I have to admit that his excitement about this band is contagious. \u00a0And when I say excitement I mean this: \u00a0He has met them several times and on one occasion had a rather deep conversation with Bono. \u00a0He’s been to over twenty-five concerts, he knows every word to every song they’ve ever written (and can also tell you the meaning behind most if not all of them), he listens to them on a daily basis, has seen their house, successfully turned an entire generation of his youth group into U2 junkies back in the day, and, at one time in his life, he knew Bono’s waist size. \u00a0I can’t even…..I mean I just don’t even….but, thankfully, he no longer knows such things.<\/div>\n
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So, we don’t just “go to the concert,” because that would be ridiculous (duh). \u00a0We experience <\/i>the concert, and the experience does not merely begin when you enter the stadium. \u00a0No! \u00a0No, no, no. \u00a0The experience begins several weeks prior to the concert. \u00a0And so, as you can imagine, it’s difficult when one lives with such a follower to not get sucked into the excitement.<\/div>\n
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We did not meet Bono on this particular visit, though we tried. \u00a0I mean, the kind of trying that included standing outside of Bono’s hotel for a couple of hours. \u00a0After fifteen years of marriage, this kind of activity has become quite normal and expected. \u00a0Though when I tell people that we spent several hours of our getaway waiting outside Bono’s hotel, I’m quickly reminded that this is not necessarily normal. \u00a0Mere facial expressions confirm this for me.<\/div>\n
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But this is what we do. \u00a0And while we didn’t get to greet Bono, we did get to meet his body guard (yes, my husband spotted him walking around Chicago. \u00a0And yes, my husband actually recognized him. \u00a0And yes, we almost followed him. \u00a0But that<\/i> would just be ridiculous). \u00a0The exhilaration my husband has when we walk…or run…or skip and jump (I’m kind of not kidding) into the stadium is just awesome. \u00a0Here he is chatting about the ins and outs of U2 with one of the attendants before the concert because even with seats we were there almost three hours early. \u00a0Of course. \u00a0Poor guy was mostly interested.<\/div>\n
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But what I love most is how he experiences the concert. \u00a0He sings at the top of his lungs and talks later about what it will be like in the new heavens and new earth when every believer who has ever walked the face of the earth will sing to Jesus with all their might. \u00a0He relishes in the creativity of the band and loves to watch the story of their concert unfold. \u00a0He sees the beauty in the bands vulnerability and belief in God. \u00a0And he feels the pleasure of God as he simply takes delight in having fun. \u00a0You can see it on his face.<\/div>\n
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And you could substitute every emotion described above and that’s how I felt eating at the Girl and the Goat. \u00a0I’m just putting that out there. \u00a0That bread.<\/div>\n
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I’m learning to relish in the goodness of this earth. \u00a0I’m learning to take more pleasure in the beauty around me. \u00a0And I’m learning slowly but surely to put down the to-do list every once in a while and delight in what is right in front of me. \u00a0And that can and should happen in daily life, not just on getaways. \u00a0Sometimes I work merely because I’m supposed to work that day. \u00a0 I run the kids around merely because they need to get from point A to point B, and sometimes that’s all there is to it for me. \u00a0 But I’m drawn closer to Jesus when I become aware of the beauty to behold even in the mundane. \u00a0There are small voices in my back seat to give thanks for. \u00a0There are students with interesting stories to tell. \u00a0And every so often there’s a rose or two that’s deserving of attention. \u00a0 And I’m starting to see that the fuller my life is, the more beauty there is to behold. \u00a0I just have to see it, smell it, hear it, and sometimes even taste it.<\/div>\n
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“We have been given eyes that we might see God displaying his beauty in the world, ears that we might hear God singing his grace in the world, a nose that we might smell the sweet aroma of God’s life in the world, a tongue that we might\u00a0taste God’s splendor in the world, lips that we might tell of God’s triumphs in the world, hands that we might lift them in worship of God and service to others, feet that we might venture out into God’s world and extend his dominion to the ends of the earth. \u00a0We have been given minds and hearts that think and reason and feel and will that we might enjoy them and\u00a0empty them in the greatest of\u00a0causes.” \u00a0<\/i>Joe Rigney<\/div>\n
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Amen.<\/div>\n
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I\u2019ve always struggled with the ability to stop and smell the proverbial roses.\u00a0\u00a0 I see the flower and acknowledge the … <\/p>\n

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