My neighborhood boasts a gifted artistic craftsman who hand paints ordinary rocks and turns them into works of arts. The artist sprinkles our streets with assorted rocks painted to resemble insects, fruits, vegetables and cartoon characters. Included in the artistry, are also inspirational rocks that contain simple messages of love, joy, peace and hope.

Until recently, my daily walks were for the sake of exercise only. A typical walk found me hoofing it at a brisk pace, head down to avoid tripping hazards while music flowed through my headphones, distracting me from my laborious breathing.

Not long ago, I momentarily shifted my eyes from my feet to appreciate a rainbow of beautiful flowers surrounding a fire hydrant. Nestled amongst the colorful flora I spied a happy little ladybug rock.

Upon my discovery, I couldn’t help but wonder how many other painted masterpieces I might have missed due to my regular downward posture? How many other sights, sounds or smells of the season was I missing because my goal was racking up steps on my fitness tracker?

From that day on, I decided to change up my routine. Rather than walking solely for exercise, I vowed to pay closer attention to my surroundings.

I quickly discovered many painted rocks and began noticing the beautiful colors of a desert in full bloom. Not only did I come to appreciate the smells of those desert blooms, but I soon delighted in hearing the trills and songs of the morning birds that nested in them. I also developed an ear for hearing from God as I started appreciating His artistic creation of nature.

While I’d previously spent much of my efforts tuning out my environment because of headphones, I was also guilty of shutting God out. He helped me to see that walking with my head down and concentrating on my foot placement was actually similar to the way I’d been dealing with some of my worrisome life trials.

I’d made a habit of focusing only on my problems, to the point that I was overly stressed and conjuring up a host of “what if” scenarios that likely would never happen.  I was trusting in myself to solve these difficulties rather than looking up and seeking God’s wise counsel.

We can walk through life, heads down, relying on ourselves, thereby missing all that God has for us - OR - we can trust HIM completely. God will direct our paths and teach us where we should walk and help us avoid tripping hazards if we will allow HIM to be our guide.

The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” Psalm 32:8 (NLT)

Kathy Kurlin
Author