Keys & Corners

Last week I had a theme-day; a day when the same theme was woven through everything I heard. By the end of the day I had to wonder and try to decipher what it all meant. It went something like this...

I overheard two friends talking about God stirring up women to be like "keys" to unlock a movement of freedom in the way we act, think and live; to have vision beyond the limits we set ourselves in; to realize our potential and power to influence our homes, communities and world. It's likely I have misquoted them and added a few of my thoughts, but it was something along those lines.
I then had a conversation with another good friend about this photo I recently posted.

Many nice people commented on it being so amazing and magazine-like. The conversation with my friend reminded me that we are so quick to take a corner of a person's house and assume the rest of it looks the same. I like this corner a lot, which is why I posted it. I'm happy that we were crazy enough to paint a whole wall with black chalk paint. It has been the cause of much fun. 

But I really wanted my friend to know that my whole house is not in any manner a magazine ad. In fact, the rest of this very room isn't either. I had purposefully cropped it just right to not show this:

There really are clouds and trees painted on the ceiling of my entryway. To the previous owners: I'm sure it was cute. I'm sorry to paint over it...someday. It has looked like this for over a year now. But someday I will finish painting it. And yes, that is indeed carpet you see on the slanted wall of that...nook? We haven't figured out what to do with that space. And those baseboards are the most patient baseboards in the world because they've been forever hanging onto that blue painter's tape waiting for a second coat. That will happen someday too.

So there. Procrastination, imperfection, reality. We always show our best. I don't think we really mean to. We don't all walk around trying to pretend something we are not. Sometimes we are just extra thankful for something and that's what we show. Which links my thoughts to our church, currently encouraging people to post photos with the hashtag #substanceunfiltered about the less glamorous parts of life. Because it's life. We all have the uglier side of the room.

And just like you can take a corner of my house and assume it's an accurate picture of the whole, we all do that to each other. We take a first impression and assume a lifestyle, we see an outfit and assume a wardrobe, we glimpse a mistake and assume a weakness. We have no knowledge of the whole picture. We do not know where God has rescued this loved one from, where He is taking her or at what point of the journey she is!

That led me to my discovery of Ann Voskamp, which is where many of these thoughts are coming from. This short trailer based on her book One Thousand Gifts got me hooked and then I sat there for over 45 minutes devouring her words and the first session of her DVD series found on her site. Thankfulness. Gratitude. It's the key to joy, to miracles, to grace, to life. Here's another thing she wrote about keys: How Women Can Stop Judging Each Other: A Movement of Key Women

So we've come back around nicely to the "keys" message. I believe that women have much power to influence our culture, let alone the next generation! We can be the key to great movements and waves of influence. I have a surge of inspiration stirring up inside... and clashing with reality. How do I connect my daily marathon of dirty diapers and the seemingly lofty dream of changing the world? (And I don't mean the high calling of parenting, but rather the tendency to focus only on what's immediately around me.) Ann Voskamp tells me that if we were to make a list of all the things we love, all the gifts God has given us, we would not be able to unfocus from the grace and joy that we so undeservedly live in. If we focus on giving Him thanks always, we will move ourselves out of our self-focused lives and into a much more joyful and satisfying place. And she says it much more eloquently than I ever could. 

Sometimes before we can unlock the door to the incredible wonders God has for us to be a part of, we need to unlock our eyes from our limited view and teach ourselves to look toward Him with the key of thanksgiving.