OPEN MY EYES

From April 2015:

Perspective affects the way we view things. Our views are affected by our experience in the same way our visual images are affected by our location.  God’s view of our circumstances is much like our view of the plight of the ant.  I encountered no less than three ant mounds during my recent yard cleaning experience.  The ants scurried to salvage their food and offspring as I delved into the depths of their home.  In the same way, life events disrupt our living patterns often causing anxiety, panic, and pain. No part of life from birth to death guarantees a painless experience, yet we grumble and complain about our obstacles.  These obstacles are designed to make us stronger and when we believe we just can’t endure any more we can turn to God, our constant source of strength, to carry us on.

I am so thankful that I can rely on His enduring Grace to comfort and keep me on my daily adventures.  As I admire the beautiful green grass blanket speckled with little white dots of clover and dappled by the shade of the trees, the birds are singing with joy in the nearby pines under a nearly cloudless sky.  The wind rustles the leaves and provides a cooling breeze and I revel in the ability to enjoy my sensory perceptions while the local ants scurry to gather food.

Now, almost a year later, my perspective has altered again.  I have grown spiritually stronger  in the past months and having experienced  many changes, I am even more thankful for God’s Grace and Mercy in my life.  I began a Thankfulness Journal in 2014 after my mother left our mortal plain to join her Savior Christ Jesus in the spiritual realm.   I was experiencing  such despair with that and other family issues which were causing me constant anxiety, then while sorting the remnants of her worldly goods, I found a calendar, that proclaimed 2015 as a Year to Be Thankful.

Each day I would write three things that I could feel thankful for.  Some days it took great effort but now in 2016, I find joy in small things such as sunshine on my face or a flower blooming.  Experiences change at different speeds, some very slowly as in aging with health issues or children growing up  while others are rapid such as the birth of a first child or a car crash that injures or kills loved ones; however, God’s love is constant and helps us to bear the crushing weight of despair by providing unspeakable joy.  We only need to let it in.