Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Seeing What Is Right In Front of My Eyes

I appreciate my wife for many things. One of the things I love about her is she sees things that I don't. She sees good in people when I don't. She has an intuition about situations that is uncanny. At Christmas, she likes to turn off all the lights in the room except for the lights on the Christmas tree and then she looks at the celing. There the lights flicker on and off in a myriad of patterns and colors that you wouldn't have seen with the lights on.
This weekend I enjoyed one of the things she taught me. You can only see this phenomenon one time of the year and it has to be in the South. We were returning from Searcy, AR and were traveling through NW Arkansas. This is the time of the year when the dogwoods and redbuds are blooming. But it's still too early for the leaves to be on the trees. So as we drove up through the Ozark Mountains towards Fayetteville, AR and through the Ozark National Forest, there is something you can see. Look into the trees and you will see all of the dogwoods blooming. There are thousands of tree trunks, but if you look closely, you can see the beautiful white and pink blossoms on the dogwoods and redbuds. Truly a treat. I would have never seen that had it not been for my wife's perception.
We get so busy in our lives that we often overlook the profound. Someone described it as the tyranny of the urgent. But if we slow down and look beyond the trees, often we'll see something beautiful, something downright spiritual. Perhaps that's what Jesus had in mind when He said we must become like little children. My encouragement to you today is to look beyond what you can see. Maybe you'll see something you've never seen before. And it will change you attitude. Maybe. Have a great day! JW

1 comment:

preacherman said...

Wonderful post Jim.
I enjoy reading your blog when I have a chance. I have been struggling with severe pain and migraines so it has been quite a while since I have been up to blogging. You do a fantastic job. I believe sometimes you have to ask God to reveal what is right in front of our eyes. I know for me I needed God to reveal what was in front of my own eyes so I could see the problems in relationships, problems in my life. I believe we have to ask in order to see. In order to repent. So may prayer often is open my eyes so I might see what I need to do to become more like Him. I think that is a prayer every believer must pray daily. Thank you again Jim for this wonderful post. Your blog is one of my favs. So, I will be reading when and as often as I can. God bless all you do in the name of Jesus Christ our Risen Lord and Savior!!!!