Seen It or Scenic?

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Driving home from baseball practice last night, with the windows wide open in the car and the wind whipping in our hair, I quickly made a turn left through neighborhoods instead of hopping on the expressway. I told the kids, "We're gonna take the scenic route home." Clearly not understanding this new vocabulary word, my four-year-old piped up from the back, "What are we gonna see Mom?" And I smiled, thought for a moment, and told him to look for new things and then describe to me what he saw. I passed him my cell phone, "Call me up, pretend we're on the phone and you have to describe all the beautiful things you see because I can't be with you."

"Hi Mom, this is TJ. I see a tree. It is green. And look I see a blue car."

"What else do you see honey?"

"Ohhhh" he pointed extending his finger out the open window, clearly forgetting that he's supposed to be "pretending" to be talking into the phone, "There's a man sitting on the steps. He's smiling and laughing. " "And look," he said, "The trees have really pretty pink flowers...Mom, do you see it....I mean you should see it...they're amazing"

With this, my daughter started to understand our game and started pointing out the window and "ohhhhing and ahhhhing" too. We saw:

• a plastic bottle on the side of the road and wondered who dropped it there
• a small yellow glove soaked and dried though seasons of wet and dry
• a sign on the post, "Mom what does E-A-R-N-B-I-G-M-O-N-E-Y spell?"
• an older gentleman riding solo on a bicycle built for two
• a large sculptured cow
• The Creamery "Mom, can we get ice cream?"
• a wet dog in the back of a black pick-up truck

Later on that evening, after we bathed, brushed and booked--my son was tucked in ready for bed. As he bowed his head, his prayers began, "Father God, thank you for the blessing and for the fun day and for our friends, and Lord for the scenic things we didn't see before. Amen."

How many times had I driven down that road and never noticed the yellow glove that was obviously there for a very long time. It is the same way with the Lord. How many times have I read my bible and thought, "Yes, I know that scripture...I've seen that before." But if I had taken the scenic route through my Bible, the Lord just might show me something he clearly wants me to see, instead of hearing me tell Him, "Yes Lord, I know, I've seen it already."

Will you take the scenic route today or will you be blinded because you've already seen it all?