Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Through His Eyes
Through His Eyes
Carol Condon
carolcondon5@aol.com
It started out with just a dirty sock here and a discarded toy there. From where I was sitting on the couch I could see the trail of debris leading from the doorway of his room to each corner, along the sides of his bed, and winding around to his closet.
Chase had finished his school assignments for the day and was eager to get outside to play with his friends. As he changed into his play clothes he told me of his afternoon plans with the neighborhood boys. I quickly explained that due to his totally unacceptable room he could not begin his playtime until his room was put back to order.
With a frown he walked slowly toward the destination of his dreaded chore. He returned back to me in just a few minutes reporting that he had finished cleaning his room and was ready to go outside and play. Knowing the disaster that his room was in just a few moments earlier, I sent him right back to reassess the cleanliness of his room and to make sure that he had not forgotten anything.
He reluctantly left but soon returned with the response, “No, I got it all, Mom.” I knew that this could not be possible. So, I sent him back with a different request. I asked him to go to his room and look at it ‘through my eyes’ instead of his. He quickly returned and said that he would rather not because when looking through his eyes it all looked fine but if he looked through my eyes there seemed to be a lot of work to be done.
Chase retreated back to his room and after quite some time returned saying that he had finished cleaning his room and that his room would be considered clean even through my eyes!
So much of the time we view life through our own eyes instead of His. We face circumstances of life and deem them as impossible. We hear His voice but feel too inadequate to carry out His plan. What would happen if we would switch from looking through our eyes to looking through His?
Carol Condon
carolcondon5@aol.com
It started out with just a dirty sock here and a discarded toy there. From where I was sitting on the couch I could see the trail of debris leading from the doorway of his room to each corner, along the sides of his bed, and winding around to his closet.
Chase had finished his school assignments for the day and was eager to get outside to play with his friends. As he changed into his play clothes he told me of his afternoon plans with the neighborhood boys. I quickly explained that due to his totally unacceptable room he could not begin his playtime until his room was put back to order.
With a frown he walked slowly toward the destination of his dreaded chore. He returned back to me in just a few minutes reporting that he had finished cleaning his room and was ready to go outside and play. Knowing the disaster that his room was in just a few moments earlier, I sent him right back to reassess the cleanliness of his room and to make sure that he had not forgotten anything.
He reluctantly left but soon returned with the response, “No, I got it all, Mom.” I knew that this could not be possible. So, I sent him back with a different request. I asked him to go to his room and look at it ‘through my eyes’ instead of his. He quickly returned and said that he would rather not because when looking through his eyes it all looked fine but if he looked through my eyes there seemed to be a lot of work to be done.
Chase retreated back to his room and after quite some time returned saying that he had finished cleaning his room and that his room would be considered clean even through my eyes!
So much of the time we view life through our own eyes instead of His. We face circumstances of life and deem them as impossible. We hear His voice but feel too inadequate to carry out His plan. What would happen if we would switch from looking through our eyes to looking through His?
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
The Basket of Words
The Basket of Words
Carol Condon
carolcondon5@aol.com
The floor was finally void of all clothes and the room had taken on a sense of order. I emptied the trash, swept the floor and took a moment to glance with satisfaction that once again my laundry room looked like an actual room and not just a mountain of dirty clothes. However, with the six of us I am only a few hours away from the laundry baskets returning to once again round out my room with piles of laundry needing my attention.
There is not a member in my family that would dream of taking a shower, brushing their teeth, arranging their hair in the latest style and then reach into a basket of dirty, wrinkled clothes to pull out their outfit for the day. What a defeat this would be to the hygiene regime that they had just performed. Wearing dirty laundry is not even a consideration.
With the sink full of dishes needing to be washed, dried and put away, we do not head to the basket of laundry and pull out a soiled dishcloth to begin the nightly chore. Nor do we head to the laundry room to pull out a set of sheets; instead we walk to the linen closet and choose from the stack of fresh linens. Sleeping on soiled sheets and washing with a soured dishcloth are not an option.
There is another basket that we should all keep properly stored away awaiting a thorough cleaning. It will not hold our dirty laundry, but it holds our words that need some washing up before we place them back into our vocabulary.
We have our spiritual regimes that we hold to. Our schedules are blocked off with the “no exception” rule for our church services, morning devotions, daily Bible reading, monthly fast days just to name a few. Then, we get a telephone call, greet the mailman, speak to the cashier while totaling our purchases, or maybe we welcome our spouse home from their workday and without thinking we reach into the basket of words and pull out a set negative remarks that completely defeats the daily regimes we hold to. We cannot afford the luxury of speaking with unguarded, negative words just as we would not reach into the laundry basket to choose our garments for the day.
“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14
Carol Condon
carolcondon5@aol.com
The floor was finally void of all clothes and the room had taken on a sense of order. I emptied the trash, swept the floor and took a moment to glance with satisfaction that once again my laundry room looked like an actual room and not just a mountain of dirty clothes. However, with the six of us I am only a few hours away from the laundry baskets returning to once again round out my room with piles of laundry needing my attention.
There is not a member in my family that would dream of taking a shower, brushing their teeth, arranging their hair in the latest style and then reach into a basket of dirty, wrinkled clothes to pull out their outfit for the day. What a defeat this would be to the hygiene regime that they had just performed. Wearing dirty laundry is not even a consideration.
With the sink full of dishes needing to be washed, dried and put away, we do not head to the basket of laundry and pull out a soiled dishcloth to begin the nightly chore. Nor do we head to the laundry room to pull out a set of sheets; instead we walk to the linen closet and choose from the stack of fresh linens. Sleeping on soiled sheets and washing with a soured dishcloth are not an option.
There is another basket that we should all keep properly stored away awaiting a thorough cleaning. It will not hold our dirty laundry, but it holds our words that need some washing up before we place them back into our vocabulary.
We have our spiritual regimes that we hold to. Our schedules are blocked off with the “no exception” rule for our church services, morning devotions, daily Bible reading, monthly fast days just to name a few. Then, we get a telephone call, greet the mailman, speak to the cashier while totaling our purchases, or maybe we welcome our spouse home from their workday and without thinking we reach into the basket of words and pull out a set negative remarks that completely defeats the daily regimes we hold to. We cannot afford the luxury of speaking with unguarded, negative words just as we would not reach into the laundry basket to choose our garments for the day.
“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14
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