Perspective

Weeds or Wishes?

Every definition of the word "perspective" means "to look" in some way.  In the visual arts, this might mean creating an illusion, so that what is seen is somehow different than what is.  In our interactions with other people, it means realizing that you are looking at something based on your own situation and background, whereas someone else has a different group of people they are looking out for and different experiences to draw from. As parents, it is absolutely our responsibility to advocate for what we feel is best for our kid.  No doubt.  However, it is also important to teach them how to consider other points of view and to consider other points of view ourselves.  Truth is not always cut and dry.  It is clouded by the eyes of those who see it.  It is viewed through the lens of experiences and personality.

What is your viewpoint?

  

   In my world….

  …a marching show looks completely different from the top of a stadium vs. closer to the field.

  …men and women, guys and girls have different ways of communicating and interacting.

…parents have children with different needs at different stages of life.

…some people gain energy by being around other people;  others need time to themselves to recharge.

Seeing with perspective doesn’t always change the way we ultimately believe a situation should play out, and there are times that we will have to fight hard for what we think is right. But, compassion goes a long way.  Having feelings validated allows people to connect and communicate.  It takes away the “fight or flight” in the situation.  It listens.  

 

I Corinthians 13:8-13

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

New Seasons

Matthew 5:4

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

We have been going through a very trying time in our home.  The past few months have exhausted us as my husband’s mom, Jan, underwent surgery, recovery, and finally went to be the the Lord on March 10.  I’ve known her since I was 18, and got to know so many neat things about her life over the last few months.  She had Alzheimer’s disease, and it was painful to watch as she slipped away from us.  It was frustrating and took a lot of time and energy, mostly from my husband and his sister.  I helped more toward the end, and it makes the loss even more profound.  There’s a lot to reflect on and many stages of grief to cycle through over and over agin.  I feel so bad for Steve, and I personally am experiencing the loss so much more than I ever would have expected.

To add to that, a few days before her death, our youngest, Hannah, discovered our bird dying, likely from flying and falling.  It was devastating and traumatic, and is still haunting her.  I usually have Steve hold a dying pet, but it happened precisely as he was about to meet with Hospice across town to sign over his mother’s care, so I earned a new motherhood badge that day.

Meanwhile, our month was peppered with celebrations.  Rachel turned 17, and we all went to Colorado Fondue.  During Spring Break, Steve, the girls, and I took a much-needed trip to St. Augustine.  March is home to multiple family and friends’ birthdays, including Hannah’s.  She turned 13 at the end of the month, and we celebrated with a family outing to Medieval Times and a dragon/medieval themed party with her friends.  Steve and I marked our 24th wedding anniversary, and Infinity was in full swing.

With the indoor percussion season drawing to a close and spring in the air, I am looking forward to the summer before us.  I just found out yesterday that next year’s marching band is set to run full swing beginning with upcoming percussion auditions and the traditional Spring Icebreaker.  Justin will March with the Boston Crusaders drum corp starting in July, and there is an in-person Percussion concert scheduled.  

The days are getting longer, but the years feel shorter.  It is good that the Lord is in charge of them all.  I struggle to understand the concepts of birth and death, making something out of nothing and ceasing to exist.  Though I believe in souls, I have a hard time wrapping my head around it right now.  It all feels so much deeper and personal now.  It reminds me of the verse I Corinthians 13:12 “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror;  then we shall see face-to-face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”

At Jan’s memorial service, our pastor encouraged us to lament our loss.  Lamenting is “a passionate expression of grief, often in music,  poetry, and song form” (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lament).   So, I find it a “God thing” that the verse on my mind is from the book of Lamentations.

God is faithful in bad times and good, in celebrations and in grief, in happiness and sadness, in sickness and in health.  Great is His faithfulness!