Perspective-

I visited my mom over the weekend. Mom has lived more than 60 years in the house where I grew up. Her neighborhood is beautiful, albeit a bit worn and sagging. I love to come home.

I’m a little frustrated with the house across the street from my mother, however. While she carefully keeps her home neat and tidy, the house across the street always seems to have a problem: a teetering mailbox which never gets fixed, stray trees which grow through shrubbery and, here lately, a huge black stain which creeps its way down the large white window awning.

Truth be told, the stain annoys me. – Do these people ever look at their house?

Mom and I strolled outside to her emerging flower beds. We glanced across the street. I was ready to hear a complaint about the messy house.

“Look at that awning,” mom told me. (Here we go. Maybe I could suggest how the problem should be fixed.)

“What does that remind you of?” she asked.

“Hmmm. A big mess,” I thought, without uttering a word. My 86 year-old mother smiled. There was a twinkle in her eye. “Look at it again. Think.”

I shook my head.

“Jesus on the cross!” Mom exclaimed. “Every time I look at it, I think of Jesus.”

I gazed at the window dumbfounded. Sure enough, the cross and silhouette were perfect. I was not surprised. Where I saw a stain, my mother saw Jesus!

Perspective. It’s important. I grumble and groan in the morning. My husband sings. I see problems and feel overwhelmed. My son-in-law sees problems and sharpens his pencil for solutions. I see rust. Mom sees Jesus.

I really need to shift my perspective. I need to be on the lookout for Jesus.

As I pulled out of my mom’s drive Sunday, I gazed at the awning in my rear view mirror and smiled.