I Can See!!!!

When Anne was four, I took her in to have her eyes checked.  She was fine then but the Dr. told us that because both Russ and I are nearsighted that both children would be too.  Genetics are amazing.

I've been watching and waiting for the signs and sure enough she began complaining that her eyes hurt and she was having a hard time seeing the board at school. 

Two weeks ago I took her in to get her eyes examined.  20/60 in both eyes.  She could see up close but not far away.  She's been bugging me every day since we ordered he glasses, wondering if they had come in yet.  Yesterday was the day so I took her this morning before school.  She was so excited she could hardly sit still. 

I was more excited to see her expression when she put them on for the first time and could actually see.  It's amazing how our eyes adjust.  They change gradually enough that you really don't know there is a problem.  Trees are just big green blobs, buildings have shape but no real definition.  And you just get used to it.

When she put them on today, her eyes got big and she was so excited!  She said, "I can see WAY better now!"  All the way to school she was talking about the leaves in the trees and the bricks in the buildings.  It was like she was seeing the world for the first time.  I couldn't help but smile and remember when I first got glasses.  I was reliving that moment through Anne today.

I also began thinking about the last year and a half of my life.  I was plugging away at things that were close to me - things that were familiar.  Everything else in the world was too far away for me to really see.

Or so I thought.

Then God gave me some spiritual glasses and my eyes were opened to the larger world around me.  I began to see people in detail.  I began to see poverty, hunger, mothers having to give up their children.  I began to see Haiti. 

Funny thing about glasses.  You have to wear them in order for them to work.  Anne went to school today very excited, but as she walked to class, I worried about how her classmates would respond.  Would she be teased?  Would she have headaches?  Maybe by the time she gets home today, she won't be so excited anymore.  Will these obstacles, and others, be enough for her to fight me on wearing them?

How many obstacles do we allow to keep us from seeing things God wants us to see?  How often are we willing to just focus on the things that are closest to us and settle for that point of view. We get so wrapped up them that we never see the details of the bigger picture.  Our eyes adjust and we get used to it. 

God wants us to see - REALLY see - the big picture.  He wants us to be able to focus on things up close AND far away.  We need to see the details.  This means maintaining the desire to wear the glasses - no matter how hard or uncomfortable it becomes. 

If you have ever had to wear glasses - that moment of putting them on for the first time is a memory that is burned into your mind forever.  It's an amazing thing.  So is that moment when God opens our spiritual eyes to things around us. 

My prayer is that we never get over that moment.  That our desire to see clearly ALL the things of God is greater than settling for just the things that are up close. 

Until next time......