I am a little ADD in the way that everyone my age is a little ADD. Thank you Facebook, Tivo, Youtube, and technology in general for making us this way. Because of said ADD I find it painful to sit at a desk for eight consecutive hours staring at a computer screen. Praise the Lord that my job usually has me on the run throughout the day, and some days I don't even see my desk. But yesterday was not one of those days. I had no bible studies, no meetings, no nothing except QT with my desk and computer. By 10:30 I was itching to break free. Don't get me wrong, I L-O-V-E my job, and therefore enjoy the work, but the florescent lighting in my office? I'm not so in love with that, nor the frigid office temp, or the fact that I can't see one window from where I sit. I don't say this to complain. In fact, my cube is pretty luxurious as far as cubes go, and I love my office coworkers. I tell you all of this, really because my ADD is in full effect at the moment and I'm rambling. Anywho... so around 11:00 I made a break for it to Starbucks to caffeinate my mind and rejuvenate my soul. (I haven't even gotten to the reason for this post. Brace yourself, this is shaping up to be the longest post ever).
I was sitting at a table, Soy Misto in one hand and my bible in the other, preparing for this weekend's Confirmation Retreat, when I couldn't help but overhear the conversation going on next to me (I promise you, I never intentionally eavesdrop, but really, Starbucks almost forces you to do so the way they squeeze as many tables in there as they can). The women in the conversation looked to be about my age, maybe a bit older, and they were kind of unloading on each other. One was single, and talking about how dating is so difficult, and she just wants to find the one already. The other was married (and hopefully still is), and had the cutest little peanut baby in tow. Every complaint that her friend made, she fired a counter complaint as to why she missed her singleness. The single one was unsure of her future, was lonely, wished she had the security of being married, and the joys of a family etc., etc. The other woman stated that she missed having a clean house, felt like all she did was laundry, wished at times that she could make decisions without having to consult someone else, etc., etc. Basically, as I listened I began to realize that each was telling the other about the enormous blessings the other has in their life, but they couldn't see the blessings being told to them because they were so concerned about the complaints coming out of their own mouths.
The truth is that no stage or place in life is absolutely perfect. We are flawed individuals living in a flawed world and life's not supposed to be perfect. If it were, where would the thirst for heaven and hunger for something greater be? There will always be things that we can dwell on and complain about. But the other truth is that this world is breathtakingly, knock-you-off-your-feet beautiful if you take a second to scrap your list of cons and look at the pros.
So, I'm going to put my money where my mouth is and start counting my blessings: I am alive (physically and eternally), I am healthy, there are people who love me, there are people I love so much that trying to put it into justifying words makes me tear up, I have a roof over my head and clothes on my back (my travels to third world countries have made me realize what a blessing this is that we take for granted all too often), I live by the beach, I live with amazing women who point me to Christ every day, I have girl friends who I consider sisters -- some of whom have been that way for over a decade, I have a job, I have a job that makes my heart burst, I have a job serving the thing and person I am the most passionate about, my future is unclear -- which means I get to see God surprise me, the creator of the world loves me infinitely and has me in the palm of His hand, I couldn't ask for a more amazing family, the list goes on and on.
So, what I've decided is that the grass is equally green on both sides, the shade of green just depends on how you're looking at it, and it's the greenest when God's growing it beneath your feet.
I was sitting at a table, Soy Misto in one hand and my bible in the other, preparing for this weekend's Confirmation Retreat, when I couldn't help but overhear the conversation going on next to me (I promise you, I never intentionally eavesdrop, but really, Starbucks almost forces you to do so the way they squeeze as many tables in there as they can). The women in the conversation looked to be about my age, maybe a bit older, and they were kind of unloading on each other. One was single, and talking about how dating is so difficult, and she just wants to find the one already. The other was married (and hopefully still is), and had the cutest little peanut baby in tow. Every complaint that her friend made, she fired a counter complaint as to why she missed her singleness. The single one was unsure of her future, was lonely, wished she had the security of being married, and the joys of a family etc., etc. The other woman stated that she missed having a clean house, felt like all she did was laundry, wished at times that she could make decisions without having to consult someone else, etc., etc. Basically, as I listened I began to realize that each was telling the other about the enormous blessings the other has in their life, but they couldn't see the blessings being told to them because they were so concerned about the complaints coming out of their own mouths.
The truth is that no stage or place in life is absolutely perfect. We are flawed individuals living in a flawed world and life's not supposed to be perfect. If it were, where would the thirst for heaven and hunger for something greater be? There will always be things that we can dwell on and complain about. But the other truth is that this world is breathtakingly, knock-you-off-your-feet beautiful if you take a second to scrap your list of cons and look at the pros.
So, I'm going to put my money where my mouth is and start counting my blessings: I am alive (physically and eternally), I am healthy, there are people who love me, there are people I love so much that trying to put it into justifying words makes me tear up, I have a roof over my head and clothes on my back (my travels to third world countries have made me realize what a blessing this is that we take for granted all too often), I live by the beach, I live with amazing women who point me to Christ every day, I have girl friends who I consider sisters -- some of whom have been that way for over a decade, I have a job, I have a job that makes my heart burst, I have a job serving the thing and person I am the most passionate about, my future is unclear -- which means I get to see God surprise me, the creator of the world loves me infinitely and has me in the palm of His hand, I couldn't ask for a more amazing family, the list goes on and on.
So, what I've decided is that the grass is equally green on both sides, the shade of green just depends on how you're looking at it, and it's the greenest when God's growing it beneath your feet.
1 comments:
This is beautiful! And so true! Love you so much Heather!! =)
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