i have been wrestling lately with seeing the big picture.  i was talking to my kids about this and the word perspective came up ;)  i was explaining to them how when i am in the middle of a challenge that all i can see in front of me is the challenge...or the rejection or correction or mistake or, or, or.... that in these times i have to remember the trees.  trees for me take on many different personas and meanings, so i will explain this one....

when all i can see in front of me is the {ahem} challenge.....it seems so big, so not overcomable, so in front of your face.  to me, that is like being right in front of a tree, not seeing anything but the bark or the ants crawling on the bark. its pretty (in its own way) but not the picture i really want to see.....i have to back up....to get a better perspective on the situation.....to get God's perspective on the situation.

its like standing in the forest and you can't see where to go next, but if you were in a helicopter looking down, you would be able to see exactly where you were, where you were going and what to do next.  i don't always get a good picture of all of that, but what happens when i ask to see things from his perspective, is that it all starts to make sense (even when it doesn't, i know that it will) and it begins to flow...and i quit trying to study the bark and see the trail that winds between the trees to another place.

if i can keep his perspective, the whole picture changes......

....into something of beauty, order and that brings hope and the promise of  purpose.