twirlie dresses

Last night I had the rare chance of sneaking off and sitting at a coffee shop (yes, it was starbucks, but I didn't drink coffee! And we just got a Caribou Coffee- can you believe it??? So, I won't have to be a starbucksy for long!) Anyway, I was sitting at the coffee shop and not studying Arabic- that is what made it rare. I was sitting there devouring Les Miserables (the unabridged 1200 page version, to keep my english up!) And I was watching all these people walking by enjoying the great weather. There was this group of men sitting and chatting and this little girl kept calling out to her father (one of the men) "watch me!" She was really cute, dressed in this red twirlie dress. She just kept spinning and spinning- until she would almost fall over and then start again. She kept doing this; totally immersed in her beauty as her father glanced at her spinning her pretty dress.
It just hit- this picture of freedom, beauty and love. I remember spinning my twirlie dresses (I know, this might be hard for some of you to picture) As I looked at that girl I realized that all was right in her little world because she was beautiful and her father was watching. Sometimes I forget the joy of being watched by our Father- how he sees us swimming and twirling in His grace and how beautiful it is that He is watching us, giving us good things and rejoices in the redemption He is working in the midst of our madness. I thought of my spinning life- decisions, language, travel, moving houses over and over, culture exploding at weird intervals that catch me off guard and make me "work" at being here, friends, plans, fears- all spinning and I don't think of any of it as beautiful! But seeing that girl revel in her father's glance...I thought of how beautiful life is when I am spinning around in grace!