Adjust Your Vision

Twenty/twenty vision is something I always admired in my spectacles-free friends. I’ve had to wear corrective lenses of some kind since I was very young, and I was always envious of their freedom to swim, cartwheel, and wake up at sleepovers without a pair of glasses to constantly guard. To be able to see unhindered was just a mystery to me, and it must have been glorious. Those were my 12 year old thoughts. 

As I think of the term “2020” now, and linking it to “perfect vision”, it’s certainly ironic. This year has been clouded and muddied with not just a deadly virus, but with arguments and constant insults surrounding it. I myself have been the target of such insults, cold shoulders, and judgments for simply defending others or standing up for myself. We can’t be fighting each other! Name calling, finger-pointing, gossip-spreading, and then also say we spread the grace and light of God. We know better. We know how Satan works! Don’t help him! 

Whether you agree with the leadership or you don’t, agree with their choices or not, prefer to follow instructions or not, one thing is absolutely clear. We are not in charge. Not one of us. Regardless of whether or not you think you are right. Someone else is holding the vision. Someone else has the spectacles perched perfectly. Someone else has the light on and has made the picture clear. Someone who is not political, the only One allowed to make judgments, and the only One who knows the outcome and the purpose for all of this. 

So we can continue fighting with our friends, or now former friends, as some may call them, because that’s what it has sadly come to, or we can trust that God has the answer and we don’t. We can choose to put our trust and our vision in God and ask the Holy Spirit to lead our thoughts, words, deeds, and bodies. At this point, the humans are proving we aren’t doing so hot on our own. Imagine the picture God sees when he checks us out. Every one of us can do better.

My friend, Norm says in his book, Secrets Have Weight, “Remember who you are! Darkness may bleed, but you are the light of the world.” “We are the Lord’s hand extended in this dark world. Grace must be the balm anointing our hands as we reach out in the love of God. We are to hand out the bread of life to those who are hungry for righteousness and offer the salt that causes a thirst for the love of God”. 

You are the light of the world-like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. Matthew 5:14

Let’s adjust our vision to God’s vision and start looking at things His way. 

Pandemic Pen Style

It has been a challenge to write lately. Not impossible, but a challenge. Steve is still working from home and it looks like he will be here for the long haul. As it should be, he has taken over my former writing room/family office/craft room/put it here if you don't know where it goes room. My computer is set up on a card table in the bedroom. The home internet has to be disconnected in order for his work computer to recognize internet, because it will only work from the hotspot on his phone. So.....I often don't have internet from the convenience of my computer, which is my writing device. The last couple of times I have posted were from the fun tiny keyboard of my iphone, using my cell phone data. Insert all laughing to crying emojis here.  

I haven't had my physical therapy since March, when the virus started, and then when the flood destroyed the roads and the hospital closed for awhile, it was delayed even further. Now that I can return and one of the roads is open, I really have no desire to go back. I've become quite a homebody and I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing yet. I'm embracing the long, wild hair look now, and I no longer wear shoes. Society may not accept this. Ha Ha....  

So while it seems I am complaining about rooms and computers, I'm simply stating that sometimes life is a challenge and we can't return to the way things were. Surprise! I used to get annoyed with my parents for telling me as a frustrated young adult, "you need to be flexible". As a "gymnast", I took that literally, because OF COURSE I WAS. But on their terms, I used to be so mad when they would say that. Kind of how my young adults are with me now when I utter the same phrase to them! 

But we do. We need to be patient. We need to roll with the bumps life gives us or we will forever be fighting against every big and little event we can't control to no avail. Oh, but I still hate bending to this day. I don't always like my plans messed with, and when I drop things, sometimes they stay there a few days. 

One thing I know I could probably do without a problem is list the problems without stopping for a full ten minutes. Personal problems. Other people's problems. Community problems. Friends' problems. Family member's problems. National problems and international problems and on and on. Even my dog has problems. I could even find a problem with the word problem if I googled it or asked Siri, and don't get me started on Siri, because he is a definite problem. I could do this singing loudly or in Shakespearean form. However the form, there are always going to be problems. 

But I can also talk non-stop about blessings, and good things and good people. I can shut a bad conversation down with a good topic in no time flat. All it takes is a shift of conscience, a change of heart, and an intention to focus on being grateful. Don't feel particularly grateful at the moment? It's not a feeling, and I'm thankful for that! It's a state of your heart. It's knowing that no matter how you feel, you can still be thankful because there are so many blessings in your life. All you have to do is take the time and talk about those for awhile. Thank God for them. If all you did was get out of bed today, that's a big enough reason to thank the Lord. Do it. 

 

Sometimes on a bad day, I just thank God for the beauty outside my window, for my family, my sweet dog, and whoever might check up on me that day. Sometimes it's just my husband or my friend, but it's so much better than being alone. And I try to remember that even on my worst day, my life would be a blessing to someone else. I've also learned that even at my worst I've still been able to bless someone else. They just might not know it yet. That's okay. They will come around eventually. 

It's too easy to start grumbling about the state of the world, the political stuff, the weather, whatever someone did or didn't do, but if being grateful was our default heart choice, that stuff wouldn't even matter. We'd be too busy realizing that all the complaining in the world isn't going to change the status of the political climate, the weather, or anyone's mind. We'd be getting busy blessing and being blessed. So today, while my house is a balmy 80 degrees inside and it's threatening to rain again, I just might try to jump in the pool to cool off between the raindrops. We have had several weeks at over 90 degrees and no rain, so we are beyond grateful that it rained last night and today! It will be a break from watering all the plants today. Hopefully the snake that scared the bejeebers out of me on my patio will be satisfied with the rain and will also return to "far far away"too. 

I hope you don't mind my laid back writing style today. I'm calling it my "Pandemic Pen Style". A little peek into my brain and kind of like a diary entry. I'm just going to roll with it for awhile. Because I'm flexible that way! 

Blessings to you!