TJ Hirst

My Daily Question: Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us today?

Carefree and curious, my daughter peeks out from behind the fabric of the hammock. I capture the moment of calm with my camera and wonder at the possibilities ahead of her.

On another day, my children watch The Incredibles in the backseat of the car. I listen to the blaring action of the movie and the stop-and-go-traffic and wonder why I can’t stop shoving Twizzler Cherry Nibs into my mouth.

The contrasting scenes leave me to wonder—the first with hope, the second with dismay.

Does every mother glimpse the potential in her child, feel inspired by awe and wish for the grandest fruition of those gifts? If so, why do we look upon ourselves with diminished eyesight, only seeing the limitations of our day-to-day reality?

Not everyone is trapped in traffic with too many Cherry Nibs but similar distractions like comparing ourselves to others or toiling in countless activities just fill up our time and emotions until we become less connected to actual people, less fulfilled in what we do and less confident in our choices. Overstuffed but still empty.

When these mixed-up outlooks cage me in, my husband counsels me to “lower your expectations.” At first I think he means stop being a perfectionist and just be happy with who you are and what you have. And he does mean that to some extent. Yet, I don’t believe he means that I need to set aside my dreams. On the contrary, he encourages them.

I might use these words: Hold on to your wonder-filled expectations without worrying about the Wonder Woman expectations.

Most of us do not want to be the woman who evokes amazement or the one everyone admires nor do we seek fame or the superiority of a super hero, but we still want to give our best in our sphere of influence with the talents we’ve been given. A natural desire for affirmation sometimes sidetracks that goal.

Ultimately, knowing and growing in our potential comes from inspiration on the inside and not comparisons or pressure from the outside. Personally, when I look beyond the threads of my circumstance at the awe-inspiring patterns God has created, only then can I see the wonder in me.

This is an entry in the July Write-Away Contest at Scribbit.
Interested in entering? The topic is Wonder Woman and you have until July 16 to enter.

And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

Genesis 2:2-3

I’m a movie talker. I am also a movie writer—no, not a screenwriter, a movie viewer who writes the good lines in my little notebook. But when my family took me to see Prince Caspian in an actual theater for my birthday, I forgot my notebook and didn’t talk at all!

Now, as I write, I realize why I talk and write in the midst of an expereince—these verbal tools sear the impressions in my mind in the moment before they are lost. That’s the moment when my creative thought process reacts and processes the story and how it relates to life. Nonetheless, my total absorption in this movie was not lost after its end nor was the ensuing discussion diminished.

The second movie in the Narnia Chronicles stepped into an even deeper symbolic understanding of what it means to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Aslan is the fictional lion that leads the land of Narnia as a Christ-figure.

In the conclusion of the first movie, the four kings and queens of Narnia return to England for a year, but time continues in Narnia, bringing forth a new generation of dangers and a new leader, Prince Caspian.

When Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are called back to help, they discover a changed land where Aslan does not seem to exist. This time they know who they are and their capacity to lead. However, even for leaders, change requires humility to reach their potential. While Edmund is the one humbled by sin in the last movie, this time, Peter is the one to learn this lesson.

Pride is a painful lesson. Since we cannot view ourselves from the outside, pride is difficult to distinguish and overcome. The young knight Peter develops his potential and then feels capable to serve. As king he moves forward according to his best plans. But in carrying out his plans, Peter still cannot lead on his own. The results show his need for Aslan.

When I face a situation when pride blinds my own eyes, I tend to depend upon what I’ve known from the past rather than looking beyond with faith. For me, I always ask for that help from Christ first, but then I begin a process of talking it out with myself and trusted friends to awaken in me the solutions I can internalize. However, like Peter, if I get scared that the solution from Christ might not come in time, my talking may turn into a worried effort to storm the castle on my own. Then, in the midst of rushing toward the desired outcome, I am surprised by the castle gates that block my way and try to fight at those barriers.

How much I must become like the little child Lucy who can still see Aslan and perseveres toward him rather than toward the enemy.

My Daily Question: Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us today?

When I ask this question of my children at the dinner table, sometimes they say, “I don’t have an answer.”

It is difficult to see how God has actually helped them in their life that day. They think of the good things that have happened, but when looking at the source of that good thing they may think, “Well that wasn’t a spiritual thing that happened, so it probably wasn’t Heavenly Father who helped in that.”

I, too, struggle to find blessings from God in just the temporal day-to-day living. However, an acquaintance at church taught me a lesson of gratitude.

This woman is a manager at the Pizza Hut where I took my daughters to dinner to redeem their Book It coupons. I actually didn’t want pizza, so I ordered the Boneless Buffalo Chicken Strips from the appetizer menu to be served with their dinner. When the server brought them, she acknowledged that the basket didn’t look as full as it should and that she requested another order that would be up soon. I appreciated her generosity and service and thanked her.

After finishing our dinner I paid at the cash register, spoke a bit to my friend from church who was working that night and I took the change back to our table for a tip. Happily, I encountered our server just passing the table at the same time. I looked directly at her and said, “Thank you.”

It wasn’t until my friend spoke at our church on Sunday about gratitude that I fully understood that the small blessing of a peaceful dinner came because a server quietly corrected a mistake. In her talk she said, “In the restaurant business, many do not say thank you anymore. They may say have a good day or something like that but do not express appreciation. When we thank other people we are thanking our Heavenly Father.”

Her phrase, “when we thank other people, we are thanking Heavenly Father” points to the source of all our blessings whether that connection is obvious or not. This experience reminded me that all good things come from God. Therefore, any answer to this daily question, by my children or myself, may include the seemingly routine efforts of others as blessings from God.

Verily I say, that inasmuch as ye do this, the fulness of the earth is yours, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and that which climbeth upon the trees and walketh upon the earth;

Yea, and the herb, and the good things which come of the earth, whether for food or for raiment, or for houses, or for barns, or for orchards, or for gardens, or for vineyards;

Yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart;

Yea, for food and for raiment, for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul.

And it pleaseth God that he hath given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment, not to excess, neither by extortion.

The Doctrine and Covenants
Section 59:16-20