Last weekend, our family decided to take a day trip and stay
the night in a little place called Alamo, NV. I don’t exaggerate when I say
little. The population is just over 1,000. The church we serve at has an attendance 6x the
size! All that to say, it forced us to slow down and…chase the lizards!
One of the highlights for me was Hudson discovering these
desert dwellers. They were everywhere! Both Sean and I grew up in the deserts
of Arizona and can remember catching lizards. They’re quick and skittish so you
have to be pretty stealthy to claim your reward. But the funny thing is,
despite their abundance in Alamo, Hudson didn’t notice them right away. He was
fixated on something else on the hotel property. Decorative wagons. Pretty much
anything that has wheels is going to have my son’s attention. As he is fixated
on the broken wheels of an old wagon, I’m watching lizards scurry from here to
there trying to avoid capture. At one point, Sean and I were sitting at an
outside table talking while Hudson was exploring (you guessed it) a wagon. As I
looked over, I noticed a brave little lizard chillin’ on a rock almost staring
at me. For whatever reason, he wasn’t afraid and didn’t dart off like most do.
So I called Hudson over to check him out. Even with the lizard right in front
of him, he didn’t seem to notice it. But then the lizard moved and it was as if
a whole new world opened up to Hudson. This was the perfect “first lizard” for
Hudson because it was almost as if it was playing with him. It would scurry and
hide under a rock. When Hudson would step further away, he would pop back out
until Hudson got within touching distance. This hide-n-seek interaction lasted
about a minute or two. But even after the lizard was no longer playing, Hudson
was already on the lookout for others. The wagons were no longer his focal
point.
It warmed my heart to know that a new interest had found
it’s way into my son’s world; something that had broadened his little
worldview. He discovered that Tonkas and Hotwheels and broken wagons aren’t the
only things that are fun to explore. As I celebrated this little victory with
my son, I realized we tend to be just like him. We focus on the things that are
right in front of us on a daily basis: work, grocery shopping, potty training, bills,
etc. How much of the world do we miss because we’re too fixated on the same old
things? How many of our relationships suffer because we’re too distracted to give
them the time they deserve? How often do we take the time to just stop and
chase the lizards?
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