I saw Eat, Pray, Love tonight and a line from the movie says this: "I want to go some place where I can marvel at something." My immediate reaction to that statement was "ME TOO!" I love to travel, I love adventure and I love words like marvel. Words like that create some sort of intangible, elusive response which at the same time can describe a feeling perfectly, in a way that no other word can. (Proof: I just looked up about 10 words and synonyms on dictionary.com trying to create that type of response using the perfect words.)
So, that was my initial reaction. I want to go some place. Of course, in the movie she goes to Italy and India and Bali. What does that make you want to do? Go to these beautiful places and explore and taste the incredible food and the exotic culture of a different place that is foreign and exciting. If there's an initial reaction, then there must be a secondary reaction and my secondary reaction was this.
I do not have to "go some place" to marvel at something. Without even realizing it, I marvel at things, seemingly ordinary things ALL THE TIME. The most devastating instance of all is when I don't marvel, when I take things for granted because society tells me they are ordinary, when in reality they are very extraordinary.
I marvel at my newborn baby boy countless times a day. I feed him and I rock him and stare at him constantly and it doesn't get old or boring. To use the first word in the definition, I look at his face and his little hands and feet, his nose and his wide eyes and I am in absolute awe and wonder. I wonder how God could fill my heart with so much love for this little person. I wonder how it's possible that God loves him more than I do. I wonder how it's possible that there is room in my heart so that He increases my love for him daily. I wonder what he's going to be like when he gets older. I wonder what he's going to look like when he changes...tomorrow. I wonder how, overnight, Psalm 139 could become even more precious to me than it already was. I could go on forever, but I think you get the point.
After 'wonder', the definition says 'admiration'. This would be my husband. I truly marvel at the man my husband is. Sadly, I don't think he knows the deep admiration I have for him. He doesn't hear the prayers I pray for him or the thoughts of amazement I think when I consider all that he does and all that he is. The first thing I admire about him, and what initially attracted me to him, is his love for Jesus. He is a passionate person and this passion in him burns brighter and hotter no other time than when he is studying the Word, preaching or teaching it, talking about Jesus, praying or worshipping. I love watching him walk out his deep love for the Gospel in his desperate, God-given need to share it with others. I am also filled with 'admiration' and respect him as a husband. He is tender-hearted and humble, but he is a strong spiritual leader whose evident desire is to be a good husband and to lead our home in a God-glorifying way that makes much of Christ. I am truly moved by how blessed I feel to be married to a man who loves me the way he does. The third description of the word says to be filled with 'astonishment'. This makes me think of a childlike, wide-eyed expression on an innocent little face. I think we lose that as we grow up and it's tragic. When I'm in Colorado, I look at the majestic mountain ranges, the crystal-clear reflection in a lake and the peaceful streams flowing through the trees and cliffs surrounded by wildlife with this sense of astonishment. But I don't live in Colorado, so technically that would require "going some place". As hard as we think we have to look for it, God's magnificent creation is right here, too, wherever 'here' is. The sunsets, the thunderstorms, my flowers in the front yard, a butterfly...all creation worthy of being marveled at and astonished by.
So, in the end, it's wonderful to go places and have new and adventurous experiences. But it's also sad to miss out on the ones that are right in front of us. Essentially, I believe those are the ones to treasure because it will be all the more tragic if we don't realize what we had until the opportunity to enjoy it has passed.
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