Yesterday at church, I realized that I can’t see. Not literally, of course, my physical eyes work just fine, but I realized I don’t always see things the way they really are.
Two examples of what I mean:
1) On Saturday, I spent about 7 hours watching football and cheerleaders. By the end of the time, I had a number of “notes” I was planning to give my girls at practice this week. They did a good job, but what I saw was the little things that needed improvement so they could be even better. And those things are true and do need work. But as I talked to a friend yesterday morning, she was relaying to me that she was very impressed with the girls and how well they did (and this comes from a former cheerleader and cheer coach). She even shared that some parents of the opposing team’s players told her how good our cheerleaders were, how they could hear them all the way across the field, and how they though our 7th and 8th grade squad was better than their freshman cheerleaders (proud coach moment – ATTA WAY GIRLS!!). This blew me away – not because I didn’t know that the girls were doing a great job, but because my focus was on how they could improve, more than how they were doing in the moment.
2) While talking to the same friend, she paid my daughter a compliment. She said she doesn’t “do” girls and would much rather spend time with the boys, but as she has had some opportunities to watch and be around Anne in the last week or so, she told me how impressed she is with her. She said things about how sweet and kind she is, how she is a calming influence on and hangs with the boys her age, and how she likes being around her. Here again, I know these things to be true, but often what I see is what I know she can be rather than what she is at the time. I am sure all parents do this: they want their child to be more mature, they could sit still better, they could be more outgoing, or better in math if they worked harder, or this, or that, or a million other things. In no way are we trying to devalue who they are right now, but we are so focused on raising them and helping them be the best they can be, we often don’t see them in the present.
Or perhaps I am generalizing something that is only true of me. In which case, you can completely disregard this post. 🙂
So today I am asking the Lord to open my eyes to the here and now. Yes, I still need to look to the future, it is my job to help cheerleaders get better and children grow up to be who God created them to be, but I don’t want to miss the good that is happening right now.
What do you need help to see?