This is a post in my 31 Days series. Don’t know what that means? Go here! 

“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.

People think pleasing God is all God cares about. But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back.”- Alice Walker, The Color Purple

Purple has been my favorite color for God knows how long… middle school, at least.

My school’s colors are purple and gold. My favorite blanket is purple. My favorite outfits typically have purple in them somewhere. If I see something I want to buy, I usually check to see if it comes in purple- I’m more inlined to buy it if I can get it in purple.

Seeing something purple anywhere always makes me smile. It brightens my day. Just like hearing my favorite song, or running into a friend, or a letter in the mail– we have the little things that in the grand scheme of things don’t mean a whole great deal. But to us, they make life a little brighter, our days a little more fun.

I think God uses the small, minute details to whisper to our hearts just how much He loves us and wants to love us. He gives us little things and little moments to dazzle us- to make us giggle, to bring some warmth and joy in the moments we can’t find any on our own. He uses these little things to give our lives meaning and happy moments when we need them.

We don’t need a burning bush to see God working- He can use something as small as a purple flower, or a good movie, or a friends’ words to minister to our hearts. We just need to pay attention.

I’d live just fine without the color purple, or a favorite book, or a song I love. But we have these things because God wants us to be happy. He wants us to notice the things He’s doing-both the big, grandiose moments and the small, intricate details.

And He does it all because He loves us so much. And he wants us to see that in ways that bring us joy. He loves us as individuals– enough to dazzle us with what we need in the moment.

For me, I feel His love the most looking at a sky full of stars. Or snuggling with my sleeping dogs. Or getting hugs from friends I haven’t seen in a long time. Or sitting on a beach, letting the waves crash at my feet. It’s in these moments that I know God knows me, and knows what my heart needs when I need it. And he knows these things about all of us– and uses them to remind us how beloved we are to Him.

Sometimes we just have to step back, pay attention, and notice the purple field in front of us.