Perspective, Part I

Other than being a slightly fuzzy picture, what is your take on this picture?  This is a picture of me, taken some time back when I was a bit thinner, and had short hair, with my puppy, Louis.  I think he was about two years old in this picture.  

Now let's take a look at this picture, Louis loves to run and hunt and play outside.  He especially loves the days when Tim and I are home all day and he can pretty much be outside all day and enjoy himself.  And it's really amazing to me that he can be outside all day and stay perfectly clean and in the last 20 minutes he will find an area on the farm that I would really rather he not go and end up coming home and looking like the next picture.  I can guarantee that when he does come home looking like the next picture I  do have to laugh  because he does this so quickly.  And what else can I do.  In all honesty I must say that I don't always laugh, sometimes I may be a bit overtired and I don't find it too comical, but I think for the most part I do find this comical.  Have you ever seen a more pitiful sight? 

And what makes this somewhat difficult is that Louis will wait until dark to come home...and it is really difficult to give a dog a shower in the dark and make sure that you have cleaned him up enough to come in the house.

Now I have given you some views on my puppy, what is your perspective of him now?  Do you want a dog?  This is my reality with Louis.  And I am very willing to have this reality because the pleasant outweighs the unpleasant.  There are those in our family that don't particularly care for our wonderful Louis, but what they don't understand is that Louis gets a bit rambunctious when all of the family is around...they don't see how delightful he is when it is just Tim and I with him.

It is really amazing how we are capable of looking at the same situation thru different views, just consider Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.  Now I am sure you all know of what this speaks, this is the prophesying of what will occur for Mary.  Now let's think about this from the perspective of the towns' people who lived around Mary.  Mary was betrothed to Joseph. And this means that she had not yet slept with Joseph, nor had Mary been intimate with Joseph.  Seriously how do you think that the people around Mary, especially back then, must have felt, surely Mary had to have slept with someone!  She's pregnant!  Oh how their perspective of Mary must have changed!  They have known this young woman since she was a child and they have known her to be a quiet and helpful young woman, not someone who would have taken her sacredness lightly and now this!  Did their perspective change?

We will have more on this tomorrow, for right now please be a blessing to someone today...