Gratitude alone doesn’t solve all problems or answer all questions, but with sharp nails it pierces all the perceived wrong shades of color and mistakes in design.
When I felt the urge to start a blog, I annoyed myself. Seriously, does the world really need another blog going on and on about mom jeans and minivans?
Well . . . yeah . . .kind of. It is nice to know that you can share in others’ experiences. Parenthood brings all sorts of changes that are difficult to face on one’s own, and changing cars and jeans size only brushes the surface of an entire paradigm (or maybe paranormal) shift. Ordinary frustrations may feel like just that―something ordinary. Not so. Frustrations can make us look at our lives head on and choose to gain clarity and wisdom from them.
I’m frustrated that I can’t go to the Gap whenever I want and buy whatever I want and have it fit right the first time. Gap, though, is the new Prada—untouchable and only admired in magazines. When I get all bent out of shape over being a fashion victim, I remember an amazing insight that I experienced while carrying Jack.
I anticipated the 20-week ultrasound with excitement and dread. We would learn about our baby’s health. I prayed for good news, but also asked God to help us if, for whatever reason, our baby were to suffer physically or mentally.
The news was good. I was relieved. And then completely amazed: What a beautiful double helix was coming together, what marvelous cells were forming, what wonderful organs were growing! Our baby is a precise miracle with genes created for him alone.
It’s important for me to include that had we learned that our little one were to have a serious ailment, he would still be a precise miracle. But, the experience of raising an ill child is not mine to tell nor to try to reason.
We have been given a child with healthy genes, and his miraculous biology helps me see myself as a natural wonder. When I look in the mirror, I know I am a phenomenon. And so is Jack, and so are you. Not a phenomenon based on achievements, social economic status, intelligence, or other special aptitudes. People are a phenomenon because they exist.
So often we look in the mirror and dwell on our faults and the world’s, and contemplate what we are going to do or say to fix both. We work hard to look the part and get there on time to pursue our purpose.
Things are too complicated, though, when it’s all about our purpose. It is God’s purpose that matters. To get to God’s purpose, one might start with gratitude while looking in the mirror. What an amazing compilation of history, biology, psychology, and all the other subjects!
When I can look at myself with gratitude, then I can look at others with gratitude. God is relying on me to do that, and I am relying on Him because I don’t have enough gratitude on my own. After all, I can get sidetracked by shopping and driving and lose sight of humanity―good thing I’m not in charge of putting a price on it.
Others need my gratitude formed by God’s grace, especially those who cannot find their own reflection. Perhaps they are too poor or too sick, too close to death or not close enough to a limited definition of life. They may suffer a mental or physical disability or be enslaved by others who do not recognize the source of their beauty.
Gratitude alone doesn’t solve all problems or answer all questions, but with sharp nails it pierces all the perceived wrong shades of color and mistakes in design. Gratitude helps to unveil truth and clarity for eternity, not for what’s fashionable in the moment.
Thank you Jesus for this wisdom, for I am clearly not fashionable in the moment. These fading turtlenecks and ill-fitting jeans have got to go! Until I can make a trip to the mall though, I’ll just have to deal with them. I might be unhappy about the way my jeans fit, but I am in awe of my genes sized just right.
Beautiful…
I love you Ann.