Cornish Hens, A Street Sign and Noticing and Pondering

Lately, I've seemed to be more of a noticer AND a ponderer than ever before. Both words seem to be encased in the traditions of Christmas. I'm in good company. The shepherds were noticers of the angels who broke the news of their Savior's birth. The Wise Men were noticers of the star that led them to the Christ Child. And, Mary was a ponderer. Luke 2:19 says (after the shepherds departed): "And Mary pondered these things in her heart." I like that -- and I sure desire to follow Mary's lead, as well as the shepherds and Wise Men -- pondering and noticing.

Years ago, when we lived in Canada, our daughter, a high school student at the time, had some Winnipeg Jets Hockey player friends, and one young man became very close to our family. Along with the friendship that Staci had with this young man, my husband and I enjoyed friendship with his parents. I know it was, in part, because of both families having German backgrounds. They were fluent in speaking German. We were not, but Staci and I took some German classes at the University of Manitoba to help us understand and speak some of the language. I'd like to say we became fluent but NOT, but I can tell you that we enjoyed sailing with them on their sail boat and visiting them at their lake home. What still stays with us today, is one of the meals that Renata (that's the young man's mom) made for us. Grilled cornish hens that were seasoned with Spike. We loved it so much that it became a meal I duplicated and to this day, Staci asks me to make that meal for her -- it's become a family tradition. Grilled, "Spiked" Cornish Hens and Fettuccine Alfredo Pasta. In fact she asked me to make it for her birthday dinner. I did. Every time I have made that meal, I think about Renata and how precious she was and how much she loved my Staci. Pondering.

I was running here in Frisco the day after I made that meal for Staci a couple of days ago, and I NOTICED a street sign with the name Reata Drive. I PONDERED Renata and that delicious cornish hen meal and quietly thanked God for that memory, but then when I pondered, I prayed a little prayer for Renata. Silly thought? Or divine thought where I was led to pray for a friend that it's been well over 30 years since we were together. I took it so seriously that I found the young man (now, mature man) on Facebook and recalled some of our great times together, along with asking for his Mom's phone number. He responded with it and expressed his gratitude for our "history" together. Though I still haven't been able to get in touch with his Mom, I left her a message of gratitude for the memories and I let her know I was praying for her.

I like to think that just maybe.....noticing and pondering are part of seeing, hearing and sensing God WITH US. Remember Isaiah 7:14 "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Emmanuel (God with us)? The more I've thought about those cornish hens and the brief encounter with a street sign called Reata, the more I realized we should all think of ourselves as “God with us.” When we understand that Emmanuel is with us, then even the thoughts we think just might be exactly what and who He's wanting us to pray for and reach out to. Maybe they are just not random thoughts but bullseye target thoughts where we are to be God’s representative to our world. We can live to purposely be aware of God with us and in us to be His "light" representative which means to express the reality of His attitudes, actions, and character in and through our lives.