CHANGE YOUR FOCUS...

I snapped this picture from my upstairs window today.

It's  just been one of Those Days, y'all. Cold and drizzly and overcast.  Earlier in the evening we were under a tornado watch. Tornado.Watch.

It's October, for Pete's sake!

But I really don't mind Days Like This. In fact, I kinda love them. Days Like This don't happen that often in Texas... there's plenty of sunshiny days on the High Plains. 

Way more than our frigid neighbors 3000 miles to the northeast-ish. 

We recently went on a cruise to Alaska. Everybody warned us we would love it, but... WOW! Mere words did not prepare me for the sensory assault that blasted forth from our 49th state. The scenic beauty was so breathtaking that it literally made my chest hurt.

Alaska is ridiculously beautiful. So much so, that about halfway through our trip, I began daydreaming about moving to one of the quaint towns we visited along the Inside Passage. I had it all figured out:  we would buy a cozy little cottage close to the mooses (meeses?) but not-so-close to the bears... I would fill my closet full of  flannel shirts and my drawers with CuddlDuds and if I ran out of money, I'd find me a couple o' lumberjacks in need of a Physical Therapist. Or – even better – I could put the Dickman's superior marketing skills to use selling *gummy bears* to all the retired tourists with wonky joints or whatnot. The possibilities were endless!

Until I was reminded that for several months of the year, there are only 3-7 hours of sunshine each day.

Womp.  Womp.  A little bit of darkness goes a looooooong way...

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September marked six months since my plaque radiation surgery, which meant I could finally get some new glasses! My vision had changed greatly since that pesky little tumor had reared its ugly head. Slowly but surely, the vision in my right eye has improved from 20/1200 to - wait for it - 20/50!!!  Since my favorite optometrist was still in New Mexico holding my grandbabies hostage, I made an appointment with my second favorite Eye Guy.   I couldn't wait!

After going through several indecisive minutes of,  “Which is better... one or two?  One... or two?...

Q:  How many optometrists does it take to change a light bulb?  

         A:  Is it one or two?  One... or two?? 

...My second favorite optometrist was finally able to show me how much better I would see with my new prescription. Though the acuity of my vision will continue to improve, there is an area of permanent loss to my lower right field of vision.  And I see red as yellow-ish.  But hey... as long as a red-dressed midget doesn't try to sneak up on my right, I'm good! 

Because even though my faulty cones (or is it rods?) tell my brain the stoplight is yellow... I can still depend on it to be red.  Which means I should definitely stop, instead of go faster.

And you know what else? Even if I had been completely blind when the Dickman took me to Alaska, all he had to do was describe the mountains or the eagle in flight or that glimpse of the whale's tail flipping in the brilliant blue water.  And even though I would have missed the splendor of the majesty... I still would know that I was surrounded by beauty. 

Because it's what I would've expected to see... what my heart wanted to see. What's more, those loooooooong days of darkness wouldn't have bothered me. If I had never known what sunshine looked like, the endless days of darkness would not have felt so cold and... hopeless. 

And isn't that just the perfect metaphor for These Days? 

Some Days, even when the sun is shining brightly, it's hard to see the warmth. Even Those Days that are filled with light can seem dark and cold and... hopeless. 

It doesn't have to be that way, you know. 

We only need to focus. Our blindness comes from fixing our eyes on the things that are seen, rather than things unseen. Things like Goodness & Mercy, Faith & Hope. And of course, the Greatest of These... 

Love. 

Every moment can be a gift from God, if we'll just change our focus.