More for You to See

The heat pressed against my skin as I stood at the edge of a vineyard in Temecula, California. It was mid-July, the height of summer, and every instinct told me to find shade, yet my feet chose not to move. All I could see was nature’s brushstrokes of brilliant green stretching before me … row upon row of vines that, as I squinted against the sun, seemed never to end.

I sensed a gentle invitation.

Stop.

Take it all in.

My body urged me to quickly leave the scorching sun, but another voice whispered, stay a while. There is more for you to see. More for your soul to receive. More for your heart to remember.

Don’t miss it.

My feet remained planted in the dusty earth as the endless rows of vines seemed to draw me in, welcoming me into their quiet and holy sanctuary. I glanced back toward the distant café where I knew my husband was waiting. But something was holding me here, in this place, as though it were meant just for me.

As I turned once more toward the vines, silence filled the vineyard until a chatty quail scurried toward me along a row, spotted me, then darted beneath the leaves. High above, a hawk gracefully circled, searching for movement among the green. I remained there. Captivated.

Suddenly, something caught my eye. Just beside me hung a cluster of grapes, rich in color and heavy on the vine. I lifted my hand and brushed the perspiration from my face, but the invitation kept coming.

Stay a while.

And in an instant, I was carried back to another place … another time … another scene forever pressed into my memory. Jesus’ teaching to His disciples about the vine and the branches came rushing back.

As I stood in that Temecula vineyard, the beauty before me and Jesus’ message from centuries earlier wove themselves together. In that moment His words about life in this busy world became deeply personal.

Slow down. Don’t rush. Don’t strive. Simply abide.

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5, NKJV)

Have you ever experienced a moment when a gentle voice whispered, “Don’t rush past this. Stay. Savor. Remember”?

Like stopping to watch a rainbow stretch across the sky, even though you’ve seen dozens before. Or watching a child pause to blow a dandelion’s seeds into the breeze. These are ordinary moments that become extraordinary. They are experiences that don’t simply pass by but settle deeply into our hearts. They are sacred and worth remembering.

I realize that day in the vineyard was God’s invitation for me to stop rushing and abide in Him. The moments that remain with us are often the ones when we slowed down long enough to notice His gentle invitation.

Perhaps today God has one waiting just for you.

It will be a moment engraved on your heart.

Don’t miss it.