Snow Day Perspective.

As I sit here watching these big, beautiful snow flakes float down I have to google the definition of perspective because I know mine has shifted. 'A particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view.' It would have to do with attitude, wouldn't it?! But I knew it deep inside; this choice to change an attitude or 'point of view' can just about transform any circumstance.
Perspective is a key able to unlock doors of thanksgiving, joy, or peace that would otherwise remain locked up tight as we tread through the hard places. It's a lens through which we can choose to view the goings-on around us.
As much as it is a choice and an attitude, I believe perspective is also largely influenced by our experiences and beliefs. Last year at this time I would not have appreciated yet ANOTHER spring dumping of the white stuff. We had cabin fever to the 10th degree, paired with sickness that lingered throughout the entire winter and I was completely overwhelmed. But if I hadn't experienced that, would I be able to appreciate today?

Today my kids woke up with giggles of delight and were outside throwing snowballs before we'd even had breakfast. We built a snow man and followed tracks around the back yard and now we'll sip hot chocolate with extra marshmallows while our toes thaw out. It's magic. It's magic because we've only had a few snows this year. It's magic because we're not sick and we can go out and enjoy it. It's magic because of the things we've been through, because we know that it won't last forever and, with those things in mind, it's magic because we're choosing to make it magic.
Now, snow may be a trivial example. Some people just hate cold and there is no conjuring of magic no matter how hard you try. Some of you may actually love cold weather and I don't even know what to say about you :) So let's take another, less fluffy and cold, example.
I have a thankfulness journal that I jot things down in throughout my days. There are occasional prompts and a few days ago it was: 'A circumstance or season of life that has changed you for the better'. I immediately thought of last year; the hard, the transitioning, the sickness, the arthritis, the unknowns. It was a year I'd never choose to repeat. It was also a year that revealed much to me about the character of God and the potential He has placed within me to 'run my race'. It shaped me in ways that only hardship can, bringing with it an incredible new depth in my relationships and perspective.

Because of my experiences last year (and throughout my life) and because of my belief in the God who gives strength to the weary and is able to bless us abundantly, I now possess a key! My perspective 'key' can unlock joy when I'm stuck in a bad mood, can unlock peace in the midst of staggering unknowns, and can unlock thankfulness for the moment in front of me, whether or not it's one I had anticipated. I emphasize can because it is still a choice. There are certainly days I stubbornly refuse to use my key and we all suffer because of it. Major work in progress over here.
'Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.' Philippians 3:13-14
When I was having a difficult time even walking last summer and couldn't pick up my boys or chew anything hard or crunchy, a friend asked me why God would let me go through all that. I'm no theologian, I did NOT have a perfect answer. But I simply told her what I believed with all my heart, that I trusted God was seeing beyond my pain to something much more. I told her of my new-found realization that, in this season, God could truly do more in me through my sickness than He could through my health.

I must point out that this is not the same as allowing your hard to overcome you, this is not permission to stop fighting your battle. I'm still fighting mine and I will not stop. But once we come to terms with the fact that God is at work in the midst of it and the things that are to come are better than we can ever imagine, the challenges we face will start to look different. They become a training course, one we would've never signed up for on our own, yet one that will be invaluable in preparation for what is to come.
I don't know what your 'hard' is right now. It could be this snow day! It could be something so terribly difficult that even speaking of it takes your breath away. Maybe I have no idea. Maybe it's not my place to ramble on about simply 'changing perspective'. But I do believe in a sovereign God. Nothing touches my life that He doesn't first see. That can be unbelievably hard to wrap our minds around in the midst of heart break or pain. This is where trust and faith MUST enter the scene or it can be a very dismal one, indeed. But it means that He not only sees the 'hard' coming our way but He sees beyond it and only allows what can be used for His glory and 'the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.' (Romans 8:28)

I can promise you I do not have this all figured out and I'll be the first to confess how often I get frustrated or say things I shouldn't. I certainly don't always 'cherish the moments'. So I'll give you one last example of the power of perspective, but this one I'm right smack dab in the middle of. There is yet to be a nice, packaged ending with a bow on top; this is real life, my friends.
I am staring down my 15th move in 7.5 years of marriage. FIFTEEN! These packing boxes that I'm dragging out of the shed are looking like they may need an early retirement. Some days I'm giddy-excited about it (that's my gypsy side) but other days it has me blinking back tears because I'm so completely weary of our transitioning. But with fourteen moves behind me, this should definitely be an area that I have developed some perspective in.
Here's what I know, because I've done it before. I am capable of boxing up an entire house while entertaining a 4 and 2 year old, then unpacking it all on the other side. I know God works through these 'stepping stone' places where we only get to spend a few months. And I believe that someday I will hang pictures on a wall and leave them there long enough to get dusty.

Shauna Niequist writes in her book 'Bittersweet', 'I have learned the hard way that change is one of God's greatest gifts and one of his most useful tools.... I have learned that in many cases change is not a function of life's cruelty but, instead, a function of God's graciousness.' So, in that case, and with a lifetime of perspective to back this statement, I say with confidence: 'Bring it on!' My boxes have a little life left in them. And just think of all the adventure that is to come..