Choosing the right window.

The kitchen was bustling - because it always is at my in-laws. Lots of food, lots of laughter and plenty of board games. As we all ponied up to the large dining room table for (yet another) game of Sequence I looked out the living room window across from me. What a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the birds were fluttering around and the trees were just beginning to bud. Easter weekend is my favorite. The house was full of chatter and family. All I could think of at that moment was how blessed I am to have married into such a sweet family. Staring out the window as the cards were dealt, my thoughts were interrupted by - "Woah, look at those clouds!" My brother-in-law was staring out the kitchen window behind me, eyes wide. I turned around only to find heavy, dark rain clouds rolling in. I turned back around and stared out the living room window across from me. I was fascinated: there were no signs of a storm - just a beautiful Spring afternoon. Again, I turned around in my chair to look out the kitchen window behind me - dark, dreary and heavy. It was the same day, the same yard, the same weather at that very moment - just two different views.
We face this same scenario in life. We are constantly surrounded by beauty. New life, beautiful people, and joyful moments surround us at all times. In those very same moments frustration, weariness and sadness loom about. There is no way around it - our lives hold both extravagance and depravity. Our choice is this: which one will we look at? As children of God, there is always hope, we have constant access to joy, our source of love is ever present. So, there is always a window bursting with sunshine to peer out of. We also live in a world full of sin...of yuck. We can, by all means, spend our days focusing on this and drudging through it with each step... but there is no hope in this. Instead, we can choose to - knowing this is around us - see the beauty.... the life... and God's hand in it all. This isn't a cheap suggestion to only see the good, to ignore the bad or a suggestion that ignorance is bliss. It isn't. It is just ignorance. I am not here to suggest that we pretend that there aren't bad things happening around us but, rather, to focus on the fact that God is working in it all. Because we serve such an incredible Savior, we have hope in every situation. We have access to joy at all times - He is our joy. It is the knowledge that behind those heavy clouds, the sun still shines... it is still there. Such is the love of my Father and the hope I have in Him. No matter what is in front of me, He is still there.
I am choosing the better view.











Philippians 4:11-13
I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.

James 2:2-4
My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.