Where's God??? Where's Waldo???

this was the title of a post I left on my blog many months ago, or maybe its on my other one I don't post to anymore...nope had to go back and look... its this blog from Sunday, October 5, 2008... that old Waldo keeps coming up in my life... and mmmm... if you go back and read that other post, its not pretty and dainty so you have been warned....

First let me tell you how Waldo has been in my life... When I was having a rough time in my first marriage I spent a lot and I mean a LOT of time at a friends home and with her family... so much time that if I wasn't 'home' by dinner time, Dean, Donna or one of the kids was calling to ask if I was ok... Well their daughter, Christine, was not even in kindergarten at this time yet... but this child was smart as a whip... and she was an awesomely beautiful young lady... the kind of beauty that strangers stop you and comment on it... now mind you Christine looked more like I could have been her mom... her dad, Dean was like me fair skinned, red hair, and Christine was a tow head blonde baby with the fair skin... when I went anywhere with Dean, Donna and Christine, those same strangers would look at Dean and I and say 'my you have a beautiful child' - it became a running joke with Donna and I. 

Well Christine and I were close... every night when i came "home" for dinner she would ask me to read her a story... every night... Her book of choice... WHERE'S WALDO.. we had so much fun reading those books and searching for Waldo on every page... we really did.... Well one day in particular and this was after a couple of years of me reading to her almost nightly... I was just not in a reading mood... when the familiar words came out... "ms.kim can we read a story"

ME " Christine its been a really hard day I am not in a story reading mood today can we skip a day"

CHRISTINE "no ms.kim EYE want to read to YOU"

OMG well to say I was overcome with emotion is an understatement... "MY" little girl had learned how to read and wanted to read ME a story... all that bad day went right out the window as we cuddled up on the sofa and she read to me and we looked for Waldo on every page...   gosh Christine has got to be in her 20's now, so yes this was a while ago and it still to this day makes me emotional when I think about it...

So fast forward to now.... and me being 44 and wanting to know more about Father, Son and Holy Spirit... wanting to suck up all I can and really REALLY have a relationship and personal knowledge of Him... but you find its not as easy as you might think... I mean it is, but it isn't... if that makes any sense... and I've said recently that it feels sometimes like seeking God, finding Him is like the childhood books I read to a friends child called.... YES you can guess what's coming... the Where's Waldo books.....so imagine my shock when I rec'd a book from a fellow blogger yesterday that spoke of this....

I've said before I am utterly amazed at the wonderful people you 'meet' on the internet... and sometimes some of those friendships do spill into actually meeting sometimes... but a fellow blogger, Diane, who reads my blog offered to send me a book entitled "God is closer than you think" hoping this would help me in finding out more about God, helping me to have a more personal relationship with Him....

So yesterday I go to the mailbox and there is the book.... without even opening the package I just had to say Thank you to God for such wonderful human beings... I mean this person does not know me from an ant... and here she was so kind as to send me a book in hopes of helping me understand Our Savior better... now how cool is that???  Well I was on my way to pick up Matt from the airport so I was unable to dive into it at that second... I set it on the seat and proceeded with what I had to do.....

Finally after picking Matt up I let him drive.. I was able to open the package... inside she put a cute sticky on the front "I hope this blesses you! Diane" and a smiley face.... so i read the back cover and then... I started to read the cover flaps to get an idea of what the book is about and call me a sap but I just started to cry... not sad tears but happy and shocking tears.... because this is what I read inside on the flap covers:

you want to believe that having a 'personal relationship with God' is more than just words.  you long to really know him. but you can't have a relationship with someone who doesn't show up.  WHERE IS GOD?  closer than you think.  more eager to connect with you than you can imagine.  but amid the relentless crush of daily living, discerning God can be a lot like spotting WALDO in the popular cartoon book.  he's in every picture, but you've got to train yourself to recognize him amid the clutter.

then it goes on to say:

using the popular Waldo theme and another famous image - Michelangelo's sistine Chapel painting of God and Adam....... Gods longing for you.  as in the Michelangelo masterpiece, your heavenly father is stretching, straining toward you..... the second truth is that God, like Waldo, is not always easy to detect.

I was floored... it was a Godwink, it truly was.. and I have the book or one of them from SQuire Rushnell "when God winks at you" - how God speaks directly to you through the power of  coincidence....

I mean come on... Diane had no idea I loved Waldo... she sent this book to help me on my journey... and I am sure Diane has lots of books she could have offered to send me... but why was this one chosen????  I firmly believe somehow God spoke to Diane's heart about choosing THIS book because He knew of my love for Waldo and how I would react when I read that cover flap... I know some of my friends that read this are thinking OMG this woman is really falling off her rocker... Well that's ok... they are allowed to think how they want...

I KNOW this book was sent and not any other that might be in Diane's library because God WAS involved... I mean did He physically reach down and put THAT book in Diane's hand??? No I doubt that but He did in some way speak to her heart in helping her make a choice because He know how it would impact me just reading that cover flap.  Now does this mean I am 'cured' I have found God on every page... oh my no but I WISH it were that easy... but I do know that the more I open my heart and my mind and 'train' my eye and my heart and mind to see God the easier it will get to find Him on every page, in every day, in every thing I think, say or do.

Diane  - thank you... you may never ever know how wonderful of a gesture and how much this has touched me.. the kindness of a stranger -  THANK YOU!

And God - THANK YOU for people like Diane and so many others that have come into my life via this blog or other means, and have been so instrumental in helping me find you!