Perspective Is a Wonderful Thing

I've been thinking about perspective a lot lately.  Mostly because God is constantly reminding me I need a dose of it.

Last year my son was in Kindergarten and would come home with shoes full of sand every day. It seemed like no matter what we did, we couldn't keep the sound from invading our home.  We'd have our son take his shoes and socks off outside to dump the sand and bang them together, but I still have sand piles all over my floor and in my dryer's lint trap.  I took to wearing flip flops inside the house so I didn't have to walk on it (I have issues . . .).  On December 14, 2012 the tragedy in CT caused me to have a perspective shift.  I realized the sand that seemed to infiltrate my house as a blessing because it was a sign of having a healthy, active, 6 year old boy who came home from school.  I still wore shoes in the house and I still got frustrated sweeping it up every day, but I also praised God for the "normal" 6 year old boy who brought sand home from recess every day.   Clean floors would mean my life had changed and I'm not willing to trade clean floors for the little boy who played hard at recess.

It's crazy HOT here in Phoenix, but when I find myself wanting to complain about the heat I remember how fortunate I am to rarely be out of an air conditioned enviornment when others in my community are dying from the heat.

When I get discouraged about the confines of our budget and the "wants" that I'm not able to fulfill I remember that my children and I aren't hauling all of our water home and are able to have unlimited access to clean water whenever we want it.

When I don't get much sleep because my kids have woken me up with bad dreams and/or growing pains I'm reminded of how long I prayed to be able to be a mom.  I also remember how thankful I am that my kids know I'm a safe place that they can go to 24 hours a day if they need something.

God is constantly showing me where I need a shift in perspective and these are just a few of them.  Each shift in perspective is a call to action, a call to prayer, and a reminder to praise the One from whom all blessings flow.  One of the reasons I know I need shifts in perspective is because He gives me one almost daily. :)  Maybe one day my perspective won't need to be shifted because I'll already "get" it.