Sunday, June 28, 2009

Perspectives from a Garden

Posted by Tracy Wainwright at 3:59 PM
One lesson I'm consistently reminded of while working in my garden is how different things can look based on my perspective. As I squat to weed I get everything I can see. When I stand up and lean over, I see a whole new set of weeds. As I move down the row or to the other side of the row I once again see weeds that were missed from my previous position and perspective. The different things I notice and see as I change my physical perspective reminds me of how important my mental/emotional perspective is.

As a mom my perspective has changed drastically over the years. I was talking with a close friend this week about my transformation from overwhelmed, stressed, tied-down-feeling new mom to a peaceful, joyful, love-being-home mom of four. Many things have changed in my life over the last six years, since I was a new, first-time mom. But none of them have created circumstances that would make life less stressful.

Being a very independent and selfish person (two qualities that are hailed and pushed in our culture) I was not ready to be on call for a demanding infant 24/7. I had always wanted to be a mom, loved my baby, and was grateful for her, but was stressed at what the reality of being a new mom meant. But when she was about a year old God put a Bible Study in my hands that began to change my heart and my perspective on myself, my focus in life, and thus on being a mom. As I began to change my perspective from "what about me?", "but I deserve...," and "I wish things were different," (so they'd make things easier on me) I began to truly grasp the things that I was desperately chasing. Instead my perspective became more focused on growing closer to God so that I could more clearly see His will and let Him work in my life. My perspective on myself began to change (seeing myself for the selfish person I am), my perspective on my husband began to change (seeing all the wonderful things he does instead of nit-picking the things he doesn't do), and my perspective on my children began to change (seeing them for all the wonderful things they bring to my life, not the work and energy they cost me.)

Having the right perspective is still something that I pray about and work on consistently. God has to remind me through His Word and every day things like moving around in my garden to see new weeds to remind me that I also need to check my perspective on my life and make sure that I'm seeing things from His truth, and not from my selfish desires.

0 comments on "Perspectives from a Garden"

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Perspectives from a Garden

One lesson I'm consistently reminded of while working in my garden is how different things can look based on my perspective. As I squat to weed I get everything I can see. When I stand up and lean over, I see a whole new set of weeds. As I move down the row or to the other side of the row I once again see weeds that were missed from my previous position and perspective. The different things I notice and see as I change my physical perspective reminds me of how important my mental/emotional perspective is.

As a mom my perspective has changed drastically over the years. I was talking with a close friend this week about my transformation from overwhelmed, stressed, tied-down-feeling new mom to a peaceful, joyful, love-being-home mom of four. Many things have changed in my life over the last six years, since I was a new, first-time mom. But none of them have created circumstances that would make life less stressful.

Being a very independent and selfish person (two qualities that are hailed and pushed in our culture) I was not ready to be on call for a demanding infant 24/7. I had always wanted to be a mom, loved my baby, and was grateful for her, but was stressed at what the reality of being a new mom meant. But when she was about a year old God put a Bible Study in my hands that began to change my heart and my perspective on myself, my focus in life, and thus on being a mom. As I began to change my perspective from "what about me?", "but I deserve...," and "I wish things were different," (so they'd make things easier on me) I began to truly grasp the things that I was desperately chasing. Instead my perspective became more focused on growing closer to God so that I could more clearly see His will and let Him work in my life. My perspective on myself began to change (seeing myself for the selfish person I am), my perspective on my husband began to change (seeing all the wonderful things he does instead of nit-picking the things he doesn't do), and my perspective on my children began to change (seeing them for all the wonderful things they bring to my life, not the work and energy they cost me.)

Having the right perspective is still something that I pray about and work on consistently. God has to remind me through His Word and every day things like moving around in my garden to see new weeds to remind me that I also need to check my perspective on my life and make sure that I'm seeing things from His truth, and not from my selfish desires.

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