Past the Fog

Sometimes, our vision gets blurred by the every day. We have to try harder, look longer and push past the fog to see what really matters.

The every day can be beautiful. For me, a foggy morning ... mist hanging over the corn fields in my back yard ... dew settled on the grass ... that's beautiful. But, when it's foggy, I can't see what's behind the mist ... what's hidden beneath.

Enjoying the beauty around me, that's a blessing. Enjoying what lies beneath ... well, that's just ... God.

Vinny found something beneath the surface ... and, in finding it ... seeing it ... he blessed me.

Vinny is married to one of my very dear friends. He and his wife are a blessing to me and my family. The picture with this blog was taken by her. She has an incredible gift for photographing nature from a different perspective.

Yesterday was one of those days when a simple comment Vinny made ... touched my heart.

Vinny and Cindi have a pool in their backyard. For a couple of summers, Cindi and I have been trying to make plans for me and my boys to come over and swim. It just never works out ... mostly because I'm crazy busy running the boys around for baseball practice. Or insane projects I start but somehow never finish.

Yesterday, Cindi told me that Vinny wanted to make plans for our entire family (My family, my sister's family, my parents) to come over and swim. She reminded him that wouldn't be possible ... not possible because my niece, Hope, can't swim. Because of her disability (Treacher Collins), she has a trech and can't be submersed in water.

Vinny knows our family inside and out ... He sees Hope on Sundays when she's able to come to church. He knows she's disabled and knows the limitations of her special needs. In knowing her, he forgot about those limitations. He just saw Hope ... He saw the depth of her personality. The Hope who would love to splash in the water and toss around with her cousins.

Without even realizing it, Vinny looked beyond Hope's beautiful foggy surface and saw what God sees in each of us. Vinny saw the special things behind Hope's special needs.

In the moment Cindi shared Vinny's comment with me, I was blessed ... and, I was reminded ...

There is a spirit and soul behind the face of each person I meet. The surface is a fog hiding the spirit from my human eyes. If I want to see the spirit ... I have to look with God's eyes.

Thank you, Vinny ... for seeing Hope and each of us through the fog.

Psalm 139:1 "O LORD, you have searched me and you know me."