Mini-Peak Moments
There are moments in life when everything is beautiful and sweet. An old commercial called these "Kodak moments" - those moments that you want to capture, bottling the sweet zest of the moment so you can remember it forever. If you are living with your eyes, ears and hearts open, these are the moments when you recognize your blessings from God. Watching for and noticing mini-peak moments help you live consciously in the light of God’s love.
I had several such moments recently, both involving my teenaged children. I recently returned from a week-long business trip to Europe. During a long-distance call home that week, my daughter asked me if I could attend her high school’s Friday night football game to bring her and three friends from the marching band home early so they could be rested for the SAT test the next morning. (Usually, the band stays for the entire game and returns to the high school late that night in buses.) Flattered to be asked, I of course agreed, with the understanding that I was coming home from Europe late that afternoon and my plane could be delayed. My plane was on time (a cause for deep gratitude) and, not being much of a football fan, I showed up to the game about 45 minutes late so I could watch the band’s half-time show and then leave with the girls. I sat next to the band’s now empty place in the bleachers, as the band had already started gathering on the field for its show. I hadn’t seen my daughter for almost a week, and as the band members moved past my place in the bleachers, she called out to me and waved. It’s difficult to discern individual members of the band when they are in uniform, so my memory is of her shining, smiling face lit up like a ray of sunshine piercing a cloud of blue uniforms. My heart leapt. I felt blessed and happy.
Another mini-peak moment occurred this weekend when I drove my son, who was home from college for the first time, back to his school. I had given him a small pumpkin as a seasonal decoration for his dormitory room, and as we were saying good-bye, we realized that he’d left the pumpkin in the car. He accompanied me back to the car to retrieve his pumpkin, and then, instead of walking back to his dorm, he stood on the sidewalk watching and waiting for me to start the car and drive away. I looked back and saw him there on the sidewalk, holding the pumpkin, waiting. My heart leapt. I drove by him, rolling down the window so we could exchange a final good-bye.
Peak moments can be life-changing, re-directing your focus or inspiring a new realization. Mini-peak moments are not necessarily life-changing, but they are life-affirming. Mini-peak moments are the ordinary, everyday blessings that we notice and cherish for their expressions of love.
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