It’s all a matter of perspective

I have heard people railing on facebook as a time-robber or as giving us the illusion that we are friends with our “friends” or that it’s addictive. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have any particular loyalty to facebook, but I’d like to offer a different perspective…it’s my “home-town newspaper”.

When I understand the function something is playing in my life, then I can appreciate it for what it is, and not expect more than it’s able to deliver.

People have been reading daily papers for a long time. Small town papers are great to keep us up on what is going on in the lives of our community, but so many people have moved away from their small towns and made friends in many places that we have to construct our communities in new ways. I love that I can build an online community consisting of people I have known throughout my whole life. I can look at your pictures (how long would it take me to sit in each person’s living room and physically look at your family photos?), find out what you’re doing today, share party invitations, read about the things that are on your mind and hear about concerns for which I can pray. I have become inspired by videos my friends have posted, or I’ve laughed hysterically. I learned that my childhood friend lost her mother, and I could keep her in my prayers. I saw the photos of my long-time-friend’s vacation, so when I saw her in the grocery store, I didn’t have to say “Whatcha been doing lately”, but I could say instead “Looks like you had an amazing time in the Bahamas”.

Like I said, I am not touting facebook because I have any particular affinity toward that social networking site, but I am more suggesting that our perspective influences our attitude. I enjoy looking at the daily news of my friends to keep their lives fresh in my mind. Understanding perspective helps me to hold things “in their proper place”. That sounds like an old-fashioned phrase, but I use it to mean that I recognize the purpose of a thing and I appreciate its usefulness in my life.

Unfortunately, the temptation arises to impose my perspective on others. I am coming to know that what is good for me is good for me. Each one of us has to decide that for ourselves. How we decide what is good for us is another discussion, but we nonetheless must make those choices and give our friends room to do the same.

So, my home-town-newspaper perspective makes me look forward to reading your status updates, looking at your pictures and anticipating your comments to me. If you don’t have the same perspective, then I guess you won’t read the daily paper, but I also hope that you won’t mind that I do.

Grateful

I originally started this blog to take the leap and put my thoughts out for public consumption. My friends and family graciously read my words and gave me enthusiastic feedback on my writings. Yeah, that fear was conquered! Now, I have been dragging my feet for months to write another article, giving myself all sorts of excuses about why I haven’t been writing. It appears that I am a bit of a perfectionist in this area, not wanting to write unless the house is quiet and the circumstances are just right, not willing to put words to paper until they are more coherent in my mind, afraid that my words will not be well-received…and the excuses continue. Well, my dear husband has been telling me that he misses my blog, so I am going to write and publish this without the usual week of editing, trying to get it perfect, because I must get over myself.

I have a wonderful pastor-friend who finishes his weekly lessons to his congregation, and then says, “So, what are you thinking?” Right now, I hear his deep, mellifluous voice in my ear asking that question of me. And I have been thinking how very overwhelmingly grateful I am. I got to be in New York two months ago and saw some beautiful, New England fall color, and for the past two weeks, I have been speechless and breathless and close-to-tears at our stunning fall colors. I take each shot of gold or brilliant vermillion as a gift from my Creator. The deep periwinkle sky in each crisp afternoon makes me lift my hands and say Glory!

I am thinking how extremely grateful I am to have a large, loving family! My husband is enthralled with me. My children appreciate the care and love I give to them. My extended family is warm and gracious. The home I have been given is truly wonderful. It just wraps us all up like a big set of arms and gives us a beautiful and restful place to love each other.

I’m grateful for the delectable food that we get to share as a family. One of the results for our family of “these economic times” is that I have invested more time into doing something that I love to do—cook. I enjoy gathering good ideas and incorporating new tastes and techniques into our food, always looking for the first bite to produce that “Mmmmm”. This year, my favorite flavor to add to soups or Pizza or burritos is the smoky-sweet taste of barbeque. When I have created a yummy and nutritious meal, I truly look forward to sitting down to eat it and I consider the whole experience a gift from God.

I am thankful for the gift of friends. In these busy days when everyone’s time is often scheduled to the hilt, I think of a friend as having an interest in my life, another way to say they care. Care and interest requires mental energy, notice, attention. So, I thank all my friends for their attention, their caring. To be noticed is a gift from God.

I am about to turn 50, and I am thankful for my health. I do creak a bit, ache a bit, move a bit slower, have a thicker waste…hah! I don’t sound thankful, but if that is the worst of it, I truly am thankful. Sometimes being thankful looks like an acknowledgement of the problems, and then the conclusion that it could be much worse. It’s like the ancient saying, “I wept because I had no shoes, until I saw a man who had no feet.”

Don’t think that I am writing about being thankful because it is the week of Thanksgiving. I really do think this way all throughout the year, but there is probably a bit of divine providence playing into the fact that I am finally writing about gratefulness this third week in November. Aaaahhh, a deep breath of thanksgiving escapes me as I conclude this long-overdue note. Thank you, Lord!