Flamingo Watching

Isaiah 25:1

"O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, thing planned long ago."

I have always loved flamingos.  I think they are beautiful and graceful and I love that God made them.  I have this photography book called Wildlife by Mitsuaki Iwago.  There are amazing animal photographs in there and I love to just page through and look at all the beautiful things God has made.  But of all the lovely animals in there, my favorite is the pink flamingo.  Imagine you are thumbing through this book--I can't imagine anyone that wouldn't stop and go back to get a second look.  The color alone is breathtaking.  

It's true that the sight of a pink flamingo always brightens my day.  I will stop anyone I see that is wearing a pink flamingo and talk with them--I'm sure they think I'm crazy!  But there is just something about them that makes me smile.  And I even smile when I spot a bright pink, plastic flamingo in a lovely green yard.  It catches your eye, and whether or not you think it's an eyesore, you've noticed it.

I was thinking about pink flamingos the other day and I thought about all the other wonderful things God has blessed me with.  Not just real pink flamingos, but people flamingos.  They are sometimes "kindred spirits" as Anne of Green Gables would call them, but more often they are just random people.  Someone who smiles at you in the store when you're having a bad day.  Someone who waits patiently for you to cross the road, when you're without your kids.  Someone who lets you go in line in front of them.  Someone who reminds you that your children are beautiful and are blessings when you've forgotten.  Those are my people flamingos.  They are the bright pink spot in a beautiful, but sometimes overwhelming sea of my grassy green yard.

Here's the thing, though I could be someone else's flamingo, except that I don't have super powers.  I don't know who's having a bad day, who's in a hurry, who around me needs an extra bit of grace.  And I could say that the Holy Spirit could tell me, but the truth is that I'm not always listening.  So instead of waiting for the right person to come along that I can tell needs an extra bit of grace, why don't I give that extra bit of grace to everyone?  Why don't I try to be everyone's pink flamingo?

See, the more I read my Bible, the more convinced I am that the only thing that makes a difference is a crazy, pink flamingo kind of love--the kind of love everyone notices (and sometimes is thought of as an eyesore...).  I want to celebrate that kind of love when I see it expressed and I want to be one of the ones expressing it.  So, friends, I'm watching for pink flamingos and I'm trying to be one too.  Let's see how brightly we can shine in other people's yards!

ps.  I should probably mention that I thought I should explain why I called my blog "Flamingo Watching."  I've never written a blog before, but I thought it would be a fun thing to do.  I don't know what this blog will continue to look like, but I want it to be a fun place that laughs at the silly everyday things that moms get to deal with, a place that celebrates the beautiful things in this world, and a place that encourages us to keep running the race that is set before us.  Leave me a note and let me know what you think!