Stop! Notice!

September, 2007

It’s true: I really haven’t seen something, until I attempt to sketch it. I’m proving it again to myself as I sit on the back deck, paper and pencil in hand.

I’m noticing, for the first time, the centers of the bright pink impatiens I planted Memorial Day. They look like little hooked noses protruding out of two dabs of white. Interesting. As I roughly outline the five petals, I note the differences--how one shapes like a heart, and how the other four really do their own thing. They are not symmetrical. Next, I study the bud. Ooooooh, three-dimensional. Reminds me of an old-fashioned lantern. Exquisite! God does such a good job.

Then it’s almost as if God says, “Watch this!” A splash of sun marvelously transforms pink petals into iridescence (a glitter O.P.I. could bottle as the most beautiful nail polish discovery in years). Wow!

Something happens to me when I stop to notice these snippets of creation. I connect to the Creator. And I think He delights in me as I appreciate a texture, an outline, a pattern, a fragrance, or a hue. I imagine He smiles at my questions too: “I wonder how a flower achieves the name Impatiens? Did Adam come up with this one?”

Distraction: A small section of oak leaves drops at my feet. One tiny acorn the color and size of a chocolate chip remains attached to the stem. A closer look reveals the acorn cap with a design exotic enough to market for carpet or tapestry.

Okay, your turn. Here’s the challenge: You really haven’t seen something until you attempt to sketch it.

Try it this afternoon. You don’t have to be an artist. You do have to stop and quiet yourself and look—really look—at a little slice of creation. See what He already has prepared for you to notice today.