We had an interesting experience on Mother’s Day. After dinner, we ended up at my parents’ house relaxing for a while. As we sat in their backyard, we noticed that the dogs seemed to be playing with a deer, though they were separated by the fence. The deer was running along with the dogs, and sometimes stopping and looking at them and stamping. It took us a while of watching and laughing at this to realize that this was a mama deer protecting her baby. We tried to spot the baby in the tall grass and trees but it was well-hidden. Finally, we took the dogs inside because the bugs were starting to bite, and then we witnessed the baby following mom away from the yard and towards the woods. So cute!
I think we sometimes get confused when we’re dealing with people, too. We think they are joking, but they are serious. We assume that they are just grouchy, when maybe they’re hurting. We think they are acting foolish, but maybe they are protecting someone else.
I have trouble knowing what to say to people, which of course means I get pegged as being standoffish. The truth is, I don’t talk unless I have something to say. I’m not one for small talk. I remember a woman at a church I grew up at who hated poinsettias at Christmas. Turns out, her son died around Christmas years ago and the flowers at the funeral were all poinsettias.
Sometimes it’s about your perspective, and figuring out what is hiding in the tall grass.
Blooming Joy! 
I shall never look at tall grass the same way, Stephanie. This is a great metapho (or is it like a simile? ) 🙂
We all work hard to distract, to leave something in the tall grass we do not need dug out. Sometimes, our close friends need to get us to expose it; sometimes it needs to stay hidden. The beauty is, God already knows what it is and what to do with it.
Keep it up, kiddo! Great thoughts.
Yes! So true!
One example: at my moms’ group after Christmas one year, one of the moms talked almost constantly about the high-priced stuff she got and gave. She even wanted to go around the circle and list how many presents we bought for our family members! It struck me as incredibly shallow and materialistic.
Years later, I found out that she and her husband had been having problems and they’d spent a few months living apart. Shortly before Christmas, they reconciled. That Christmas, every gift they bought was a symbol of their love for each other and a reminder of the treasures they almost lost. In that light, it didn’t seem so shallow.
So true! Incidentally, I too stink @ small talk. Sometimes I wonder what in the world God was doing in making me a church worker’s wife. I thought maybe pastors’ wives got classes on that @ Sem. :o)
Extremely true, and very well-said.
Posts like this make me miss the days when you used to email devotions to your friends. Remember those days? 🙂