The Woman Through the Window

“We’re going back to what’s familiar,” she said, smiling at her companion, “our normal version of Cribbage.”

The older gentleman with her says something I can’t hear.

Photo Credit: Jeff Sheldon, Unsplash Media

Their voices are a dim hum behind me, flitting in and out of my attention.

A woman across from me slices her egg frittata and pierces a bite with her fork. Our eyes meet for a moment and we grin at each other, me with a self-conscious mouthful of bagel. Rosemary and olive oil taste piney and salty on my tongue.

I finish chewing and take another bite. Ravenous from a morning of teaching math to my eighth grade son, I’m scarfing down this bagel.

I’ve just dropped Daniel off at a percussion lesson to be followed by his Band class.

A hot cafe latte warms my left hand through the cardboard cup. The espresso machine to my left hisses and the cash register clangs as it shuts, rattling coins. Coffee beans grind softly, and people come and go from the counter.

Not my view, but similar. 🙂 Photo Credit: Toa Leftiba, Unsplash Media

Against a blue sky, crimson and yellow trees in the parking lot sway in the wind. Autumn’s chill has been brisker than I had expected for such a sunny day. Warming up now in the coffee shop, I pull out my Bible, journal, and smooth-rolling pen.

Thank you, Abba Daddy God, … I write in handwriting that gets worse by the year. And while my words are barely legible, my heart can read this truth so clearly. Gratitude is the habit for a good life. Gratefulness gives joy. Training myself to stop, see, and savor–to stop and say thanks to my Abba Daddy God– is the only way to truly live. I start with what I can see and feel.

Thank you, God, for:

• a hot latte,
• for fresh rosemary-infused bread,
• red leaves that vibrate in breezy sunlight
• triangular trees in symmetry
• a car that runs
• money to buy gas
• music class for my son and this chance to study and work nearby

My breathing deepens as I count God’s gifts, and my shoulders soften and drop. I hadn’t even known they were up.

Time slows and peace seeps in. It doesn’t mean the To Do lists have gotten any smaller, but I trust him, this God of good gifts and I rest with him here now.

I stop writing to see it — a blond woman in a beige sweater has stopped on the sidewalk right outside my window. Closing her eyes, she faces the sun and smiles. Motionless, she rests in the sun’s light, looking peaceful, warmed, and at rest. A serene smile crosses her face and she stands there, alone on the sidewalk, while cars pass.

And then it’s done, and she walks away out of sight.

The beauty and kinship I felt through the glass window in that moment I can’t explain! She, in the sun, and me, inside seeking the Son too. Both of us pausing in his beauty and rest to refill our souls.

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Jennifer speaks often at MOPS/MomsNext groups, at conferences, churches, retreats, camps, home school co-ops and more. She loves getting to know people and making new friends.