Wide Lens

  I have just finished reading a book called, Desiring God, by John Piper.  It's pretty intense and definitely causes some major introspection.  One of the major points I took away from the book and that caused me to go back to Taylor's birthday and all that's happened since that day was the "Wide-Angle Lens."  Piper described it like this.  Often times when a tragedy or life-changing circumstance comes our way, we are so focused on the negative implications of it that we view the scence from a narrow-lens perspective.  (And from my own experience, that's all I was capable of.)  God, on the other hand, sees everything from His wide-angled lens.  He knows all that came before and all that is coming because of this tragedy.
  When I look back on our earliest days and months...really years...with Taylor, it was all I could do some mornings to get up and face the day.  Now, I can look back and see God's hand on us and look forward to an incredibly bright future while Taylor still lives in physical darkness.  I can see people we've met, challenges we've triumphantly overcome, victories that are so much sweeter because the hurdles seemed insurmountable at the time, lessons I've learned only because of these circumstances, and a strength in my girls they've had to draw on from God Himself.  Not always understanding the Why, but learning to see things from a bigger perspective has given each step a little more spring all the time.  Thank you for a Wider-angled lens, Lord!