Perspective

Being a mother has taught me a lot about perspective; it is as if I have received a new set of eyes.  It is so easy to lose sight of TRUTH when circumstances are not favorable, or maybe just not quite the way they used to be, or the way you might assume they should be. 

I'll be honest, before Brayden was born, I had many assumptions about what being a mother required, and how a baby would function.  When he came, and many of those assumptions were not correct, there were many tears, frustrations, and a feeling of inadequacy and disappointment.  I felt silly for thinking that I knew "everything" about being a mom, and felt bad about the expectations I had placed on my sweet infant.  The truth was, God was working to sanctify and refine me; and he began teaching me MANY lessons, giving me perspective.

I began coming in contact with quite a few families (none of whom I knew personally), who were battling trials with their children, FAR GREATER than sleep deprivation or a colicky baby: Cancer, still birth, SIDS, a heart transplant.  My heart began to break for these mothers, and fathers, and my heart began to gain new insight into my own reality.  Although my lot in life may not be as simple as I expected, or as I had seen in the "Smith" family...it was blessed, beyond comprehension and very undeserved.  I began to grasp a new perspective: Any sickness, sleepless night, tough day, etc. is God's affliction for MY profit, because He loves ME and wants to make ME a partaker of His holiness (Hebrews 12:10).  And EVERY day of health, restful night, blessed day, etc. is an undeserved blessing for MY profit, from the hand of God, because He loves ME.

I am certain that God will continue to work in me, His character/holiness, and refine my perspective on a daily basis.  2 Corinthians 4:16-18 is a good frame of reference for this perspective: "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all! So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal!"