My daughter and I attended the Body Worlds and the Brain exhibit over the weekend. She aspires to be a doctor some day and has been chomping at the bit to see this display since it came to Arizona several months ago. As we planed out day, we asked several people how long they needed to tour the exhibit. After hearing from several, we decided four hours should do it. On Saturday, we were wearing comfortable shoes, with several hours to take in all the exhibit had to offer as well as get our monies worth.

Well, it was a mistake going on a Saturday. There were so many people, we were pretty sure that the fire code was being ignored. To boot, we’re both a bit claustrophobic when it comes right down to it. We decided to strategically make our way through the cases—we had a brilliant plan. The bodies in the exhibit are cadavers that have been sealed through a process called plastination. It is amazing how you can see the detail from the human body whether it is nerve endings, organs or muscle tissue. I must admit because it’s real and so detailed, that I’m not sure I’ll be able to eat red meat until the vision has left my memory. The exhibits explain how exquisite the body is and how it functions— my 13 year old daughter looked up at me and said, “how can anyone believe in evolution when they look at how the human body is designed?” Truly we are insignificant when you look at the Great Designer who created it all.

The display that really caused me to see how intricate the body is designed was the fetal room where a woman and her 5 month old baby had been forever contained in plastic. As you looked at each stage in a separate glass case of the fetus from 1 week old developing to 40 weeks old, I was again reminded of how exquisite the human body is designed and how amazing the creation of life is.

When we arrived at church on Sunday, our pastor spoke on this very topic. How God is powerful, passionate, and how we should live moment by moment with recognition of God’s loving presence in our lives. One of the rather morbid things about the Body Worlds display was when the bodies had hair that had been preserved on their bodies. Yet the Bible tells us that God knows the number of hairs on our head. He knows that Tim has less today, than the day I married him. Does that seem insignificant to you? It wasn’t to God. He felt it was important enough to Him to let you know that YOU are important to Him, including the hairs on your head. If we are wandering through life wondering if God truly cares about us or even has any idea we are here on this earth, the resounding answer is YES! He knows and He cares. He desires to be intimately involved in your life—every aspect of your life including knowing how many hairs are on your head…or maybe for you it’s the lack there of when it comes to hair on your head. Either way, His desire is a relationship with you.

But how does this relationship work? Our pastor listed 6 things that are important when attempting to enhance our relationship with God.

• Keep watching. Most days we run helter skelter from one activity to the next and never even take a minute to pause to see God working in every day life. Whether it’s His indescribable creation or that car that ran a red light and nearly missed hitting you. He is there.

• Avoid distraction by ungodly things. When is the last time you caught yourself doing something that was completely pointless? My days are filled with those moments. I desire to be intentional using my time wisely for things that matter for eternity. Does this mean I never sit and play a game of angry birds on my phone? No, but it does mean that I don’t waste entire days saving birds from lemurs.

• Distinguish well between better and best. How often do we get caught up doing things for God that we don’t have time to just be with God? There are times in life when we need to take a step back and evaluate our motives of why we are doing what we are doing and also ask the question, am I doing what God truly wants me to do? More often than not we convince ourselves, if I don’t do it, it won’t get done. Perhaps next time we should be asking, if I do this, will I be robbing someone else the opportunity to serve God in an area they’re more talented  than myself?

• Take public opinion only for what it’s worth. How often do we veg out in front of the TV watching shows that dis God or read articles by people who claim God is a crutch for those who are weak. For those of us who believe in the one true God know that He is for real. He is the real deal who has shown Himself to us in a plethora of ways.

• Work hard to keep yourself under control. Truly, most things in life you cannot control. When the dishwasher goes ca-put or when life brings tragedy in losing a loved one. But, you can control what goes on your calendar and making sure you schedule margin in your life so that when emergencies do come you aren’t ripping out all of your hair trying to figure out how you are going to have the time to handle it all. What are the non-negotiable things in your life? What are the things that can be erased or deleted from your calendar?

• Seek Godly support through the drawbacks of life. More than once my husband and I have found ourselves calling someone older and wiser than ourselves asking them what on earth they think we should do. Sometimes they have amazing wisdom and sometimes just the mere act of talking through the issue allows God to show us what He feels is the best avenue for us to take.

If you were to die tomorrow, and you donated your body to science so they could preserve you in plastination forever, would you be okay with how you are living your life today? With how you are spending your time? My daughter did great up until the time we got to the fetal room. Then everything changed for her. Rather than spending 4 hours touring the exhibit we spent an hour and a half. Life became more real to her there in that room. God showed her that life is precious and fragile…not to be taken lightly. It seemed irreverent to take an infant, plasticate it and put it out there for all to gawk at. Man can do what he will when it comes to plasticating humans, using cryogenics to freeze a body or even taking the life of an infant in uteri. But ultimately, God is still in control. He is powerful. He is passionate. But most of all, He desires a relationship with you! I promise He does. His Word tells us He does and one of the way He shows us He desires us to know Him better? He knows how many hairs we have on our head.