Fresh Eyes

Friends of my family have come to visit for a couple of weeks; accompanying them is their eight-month-old baby daughter. Although it could no doubt go without saying, this precious little being is an absolute delight. She coo’s and smiles all the time. In conversation with her mama, we discussed how everything in the world is a new discovery in her baby’s eyes. For example, she is easily entertained just looking into the face of another human being. Give her a kitchen spatula and she will play for half a day wielding it around and around before finally inserting it into her mouth for a taste. Like other eight-month-olds, this little one is learning all day everyday things that are new.

After spending a couple of days with our friend’s baby, it occurred to me that her perception of the world around her is very different from mine. Of course, I have lived many decades longer than this baby girl has been alive, so naturally, her “extraordinary” is only ordinary to me. I have looked into many human faces, and I have wielded a spatula more than a few times in my kitchen while cooking meal after meal. In fact, I have probably become somewhat critical if not cynical about the world in which I live.

Sometimes I must remind myself, that God created all things. How easy it is to forsake what is true. “In Christ…we are new…all things have become new.” The sunrise, sunset, flowers, trees, indeed all things, including you and me are new, if only we will choose to experience life through a fresh lens, much like my new little baby friend. Oh, the wonder of the creation; even more so, the absolute wonder of Creator God, who makes all things new.

Lord, forgive me for becoming jaded about the things that have become familiar. You have given so much beauty. Help me to look expectantly and eagerly with fresh eyes at everything and everyone, knowing that You are the Giver!