I sat in a coffee shop today and watched a squirrel dash back and forth across the parking lot, gathering treasures to bury in the flowerbed. Back and forth he ran, repeating the same mundane task. I wondered if the squirrel ever tired of doing this. Or perhaps the small creature is more content with his current position than I’ve been lately. See, I’ve been feeling a lot like that squirrel. Life has become so mundane, so routine. I haven’t really felt like “living the journey” these past few weeks, and nothing has been able to penetrate this thick wall of “blah.” Nothing, that is, but this squirrel.

Somehow I get the idea that the squirrel wasn’t thinking about much else but the task at hand. I don’t think it’s because he’s a little creature who wasn’t blessed with the brains we humans have. I think it was because, unlike most humans, this little squirrel knew his place in life, and he was content to do what he had been created to do.

Sometimes I have to wonder what I was created to do. Sometimes I wonder if I’m really doing the right thing, or if I’ll ever end up where I’m supposed to be. Part of me wants to cling to that fairytale mentality that says, “Well, of course dreams come true,” while the other part of me is discouraged because those dreams seem so far away.

Today, I needed a squirrel to remind me that I should be content with the here and now. Just as the squirrel stored things up for the future, my life now is preparation for the years to come. So it’s about time for me to take a deep breath and remind myself to live the journey, knowing that God knows what He is doing with my life here and now.