There are those days you bike past the same old bench and it’s now covered with yarn, a community’s response to a creative challenge.

It’s the middle of Lent and you’re very aware of your own need and on that particular day the pink and red yarn heart might just feel like a reminder straight from the heart of God that he sees you, that’s he’s right here waiting for you in the tangle of messy emotions.

And maybe the first day you ride past on your bike, letting your heart open a little, giving thanks for his mercies that are new every morning.

And just perhaps, that second morning, you ride right past without noticing (it’s dark, after all, and your thoughts are on the day ahead and the decision to be made). And as you drive back along your route you wonder, “Did I just miss it or is it gone?” And you might just noticing a longing welling up in you, a desperate hope that that special sign of love is still there. And your heart might leap a little as you bike past and there it is! His kindness still there amidst all the feelings, his mercies still new even on this morning when you need to hurry home for a 9 am meeting.

You just might add “take camera” to your do-list for the next day in case the love has escaped being cut down by someone tidying up.

And maybe that next morning when you bike past and it’s still there your heart leaps in response, and you decide you can’t bike past again without responding somehow. You do have a little extra time that morning. And, just maybe, you get off your bike and cut yourself a length of red yarn from the blue tupperware box chained under the bench and weave your little response of love right through the heart that is already there.

It might not be smooth or tidy, but when has real life ever been either? You don’t have time to start over and try to make it perfect, and maybe perfect isn’t what this process is about anyway. Maybe it’s about becoming like a child, letting your fingers, your heart, learn the shape of His heart that always stands open, calling you to come close, to put your fingers in his wounds and your head on his chest and hear his heart that never stops beating with love for you.