How often do we take the time to stop, look around, and recognize the beauty of life even amidst the messes? I'll bet not enough for I know I certainly don't do it often enough. When we forget to look for the good, we become ungrateful, even bitter. The messes tell a story of the living that goes on. Someone glancing at the above picture might say that our kitchen is in serious need of a thorough cleaning, but I see an Easter tradition. I see the love that goes into the baking we do every Holy Saturday in preparation for Easter. I see the joy we get from dancing to the music while powdering the counter with flour before kneading the bread. I see the graces flowing as my younger sister teachers her younger sisters how to properly crack an egg into a bowl--without getting eggshells in the batter. I see a beautiful mess, do you?
Melody, over at Blossoming Joy, wrote in a recent post about sharing the best in her life, while keeping the bad at a minimum, "Is it wrong to soften the rough edges? No. I don't think it is. In fact, it may be a big step closer to the truth." While you should definitely read the whole post, I wanted to share what I thought, too.
It is so easy to get bogged down in the realities of the grittiness of our world. We see our messy homes (excepting you, dear reader, I can't assume everyone has messy homes, but those of you that do know this pain, you're not alone), our failing relationships, the crime, the evilness all around us, and it is hard to see the good through the grimy film of evil. But this shouldn't be our way of life. Yes, we should be aware of evil, and we should even do what we can to remedy it, but we shouldn't allow ourselves to wallow in it. You see, this is one trick of the devil's. If we focus in close enough on the evilness around us, we'll forget about the good, and we will despair. Despair is terrible for faith, for faith is about trust, love, and loyalty. Despair is the opposite of faith, which is exactly why it is such a good tool for keeping us away from God. By taking the time to see the good in our lives, we can learn to recognize them as what they are, gifts from God. When we recognize the gifts He sends us, it will be easy to give thanks to Him. From gratitude, love grows with ease. When we love God, we are living our true vocation. The more we love Him, the closer we can get to being the saints He wills us to be. Don't you see that by giving thanks to God for the littlest things, they become the greatest in our lives? It doesn't matter how little they are. They could be clean socks, fresh cookies, the smell of hay, laughter, or even the ability to breathe after struggling with asthma. Whatever it is, if it is good, you can be certain that it came from God. And, that He meant it just for you.
|
Archives
April 2015
|