There’s Ma, Pa, Laura, Mary, Carrie who never seems to talk much, and Jack the dog.
They live on the prairie.
They laugh a lot.
They cry a lot.
They love a lot.
Almost every story has a happy ending.
(I’ve been catching parts of these Little House on the Prairie episodes when I’m with Mom.)
Everything seemed so easy back then, didn’t it?
And yet, we know it was hard.
So what is it that we are seeing…when it all seems so easy?
I think we’re seeing the simple.
During that hour of TV, the Ingalls family endures a crisis and resolves it.
Hearts broken. Hearts restored.
It’s simple.
The crisis…misunderstanding…hurtful words.
The tears…anger…outrange.
The patience to let the lesson be learned.
The conversations…the truth telling…the listening.
The I’m sorry…the reconciliation…the peace.
When I watch those characters, I find myself wistful…yearning.
I want that simple, trusting faith that everything is going to be all right.
So cool…
I can have it.
That simple, trusting faith is mine if I’ll have it.
And it can be easy.
What it usually requires is that I just Stop.
Stop fussing.
Stop struggling.
Stop controlling.
And Start.
Start breathing.
Start enjoying.
Start listening.
God wants to meet us, you know.
He’s pulled up the chair and He’s saying…
Come.
Come and sit a spell.
Rest for just a bit.
Come.
Simple is good.
