Since I’ve been dabbling in watercolor, my eyes are drawn to the colors and shapes that wash around me throughout the day—the hues, values and intensities of clouds drifting, leaves turning, and shadows shading everything I pass.

In short, I’m becoming more of a noticer.

And sure enough, just when I’m becoming more aware, a children’s picture book passes my way and sneaks into my office and onto my shelf. (Lately, I must sneak books . . . my allowance is gone and I’m way over my book limit!) 

Noticing, by Kobi Yamada, illustrated by Elise Hurst, not only has stunning watercolor illustrations but a thought-provoking text for young and old. 

It’s one of those books that slows you down as soon as you open it. And when you read it again, and again, it’s like reading it for the first time. 

It’s the heart’s desire for a deeper awareness to all things—grand things, small things, ordinary things. The ordinary that becomes extraordinary the longer you look. It’s another reminder to look for the beauty all around that sometimes take time to discover. 

Everything is worth noticing.

“And often what we see depends on what we look for.”

But there’s another layer to the story, perhaps the most important . . .

Everyone is worth noticing. 

While sitting in my car waiting for my husband to get a haircut, I notice a man wheeling himself across the parking lot, possibly down to the coffee shop not far away, or maybe just out for some fresh air on a crispy autumn afternoon.  

I notice your strong arms pumping your way through the parking lot, your smile and nod to the biker riding effortlessly toward you, and your patient navigation past potholes and beer cans. 

Would it help you to know you’re noticed?

Maybe you need to hear that you’re more valuable than you feel, more attractive than you believe, stronger than you might think. You display an extra-ordinary perseverance and promising potential. 

I notice you. Do you need to know?

Some days I need to know.

On an especially difficult day last week, I felt unnoticed. Forgotten. Invisible. Way too ordinary. Life seemed to be passing me by. 

Before the day’s end I received a powerful three-word text that turned my heart around—

God sees you.

I knew this to be true . . . but I had forgotten. 

It didn’t take long for those words to move from my head to my heart. They lifted me from sitting in the shadows to standing in the light. 

I’m not invisible. God notices me. So did the one who told me so.

After all, who hasn’t felt like this at times…

If you’re looking for a book you’ll never outgrow, or you just want to switch out that heavy coffee table book no one looks at anyway, or you still have allowance to burn (YAY, You!) consider, Noticing, by Kobi Yamada.

It’s more than an ornamental book to collect dust. It’s a book that moves you to notice the world around you and the people beside you.

Its message can lighten the load and bring truth to the table. 

It did for me.

But don’t keep it all for yourself.

Share it with a child and

start a conversation.

I hope my watercolor dabbling will keep drawing my eyes to the hues, values, and intensities of the world around me, as well as the beauty of those I know and will meet. 

I want to be a better noticer.