When You Need to See With Fresh Eyes

by | Mar 8, 2017 | Lent, Rhythms of Rest

On a sunny Saturday morning in Notting Hill, I stand on a crowded corner of Portobello Road, watching a busker band sing and strum instruments. My visiting friend Emily pushes past a row of tourists and positions herself a few feet from a makeshift microphone stand. The boy holding drumsticks grins between lyrics as she stands in front of him with a camera pulled up to her face.

As I watch Emily frame the quintessential London scene, my mind is taken back to her back yard in Phoenix, almost two decades earlier. She is three and jumping on a trampoline with my daughter, Murielle, who is barely four. Her wispy, fine hair was in a stage of permanent static electricity back then. But her eyes are still the same shade of golden brown, I notice, as she finds my familiar face among a sea of foreigners.

“Rest your eyes from images and words that distract. Rest your eyes from media and see the image of God in the hearts beating under your roof.” A Sabbath Journey for Lent

If you would’ve told me during those early years of parenting through playdates that my best friend’s daughter would be living with me in London during the month of March, well, I probably wouldn’t have believed you.

On a Sunday morning in Kensington, I sit between Emily and my son Harrison on the front row at St. Barnabas Church. As the worship team sings and strums instruments, I close my eyes and sing I Exalt Thee. And suddenly, I am transported back to Oklahoma during my senior year at university.

From a patch of grassy hillside overlooking the cityscape of Tulsa, street lights glow through the darkness as I sit cross-legged next the campus library. Leaning on a bag of text books, I hum I Exalt Thee into the starry silence and wait to hear God’s voice echo back into my loneliness.

And a small glimpse of the future evokes an adrenaline rush of hope — a mental image of a bridge over the Thames.

If you would’ve told me during those early years of my life — alone in the world and working two jobs to support myself — that I would be an author, married to a Vicar and living in London, I might’ve believed you. Just a little bit.

But I would’ve tried to control how I got here instead of resting in God’s grand providence.

On this first week of Lent, resting my eyes has allowed me to look back and return to my authentic self.

In our frantic, frenzied, and fallen world, how fantastic is it that God sees through our cracks and continues to believe in the beautiful redemption of our brokenness?” A Sabbath Journey for Lent

In busyness, we tend to see life as random chapters disconnected from the story God is writing for us.

Sabbath creates space for connecting the details in our beautiful stories of God’s love and faithfulness.

Tell me in the comments: What are you seeing with fresh eyes this week?

Join me on Instagram for more conversations from A Sabbath Journey for Lent (free to blog subscribers) and on Facebook for a video of this week’s Lenten prayer. And find Emily’s beautiful photography here.

 

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22 Comments

  1. Tammy Mashburn

    Birds singing before sunrise, singing in the rain. Reminds me I, too, can sing in the dark and in the rain. Reminds me spring will come!

    • shelly

      I love this Tammy because I love birds. We didn’t hear bird song for the first year we lived in London because of construction all around us. Now their early morning chorus is a welcome sound.

  2. Lisa Curtis

    Oh, it has been a challenging week thrown into the reality of quickly aging parents and their needs. I see each of them with sadness as I look into their once bright shining blue eyes and see the color fading but the love of life and for me has not changed. Their eyes show a sense of loss and fear for what is to come. I see the love of Christ as I realize my father is losing his sight to glaucoma and how much we take youth and health for granted. Our ability to see objects clearly fades just as the color of our eyes in such a slow manner that we hardly notice the change until it is too late. Your words to look for an unforeseen perspective this week hits hard but thankful no matter how good a person’s eyesight we can see the heart of God staring back.

    • shelly

      It’s amazing how empathy kicks in when we go through difficulty or in your case, watch someone decline. It sounds like resting your eyes has been a bittersweet practice for Lisa. It’s always hard to see someone you love struggle as they age. Thanks for sharing your experience.

  3. Valerie Sisco

    Hi Shelly,
    I enjoyed this post with the beautiful images of London and I especially loved your words of seeing how God constructs our stories, even when we can’t see or believe them ourselves!

    • shelly

      Thanks Valerie, glad you are here with us!

  4. Sharon O

    So beautiful someday I would love to come see where you live.

    • shelly

      I hope you get to see London Sharon, it’s truly a magical place. I feel so blessed to live here.

  5. kara

    I am seeing myself this week. The fun loving, talkative, woman that I enjoy being. I am finding time to sit and LISTEN to my five teenagers. I am actually just sitting. And it is quite lovely.
    Thank you for the beautiful Lenten devotional.

    • shelly

      Wow Kara! That’s amazing. I am so encouraged by what you have said about seeing yourself. What a gift.

  6. Pam@Writing...Apples of Gold

    Kind of echoing back to your Sabbath rest theme, I’ve been pondering the last few weeks about our literal need to daydream, and how God instilled that in us. How the world more than ever is stealing that from us…and from the children most of all… Wrote about that today…

    Always loving your London photos here. Love that whisper and image of the bridge over Thames He gave you in those college days…

    • shelly

      I write about how vital it is for us to daydream for optimum brain function in Rhythms of Rest. You are on to something Pam, there are statistics that show how vital contemplation is for us and yet, we are losing that ability with constant engagement at our finger tips. Lovely to see you in the comments!

  7. Pam@Writing...Apples of Gold

    Kind of echoing back to your Sabbath rest theme, I’ve been pondering the last few weeks about our literal need to daydream, and how God instilled that in us. How the world more than ever is stealing that from us…and from the children most of all… Wrote about that today on my blog…

    Always loving your London photos here. Love that whisper and image of the bridge over Thames He gave you in those college days…

  8. Doris Acker

    Hi, Shelly! I love the photos of London. Our son (who is a Pastor) and his wife got to be there for a few days after a missions trip to Moldova. They were on there way home. They loved it! Also my mother’s mother is from Lancashire and her father is from Nottingham. So one day, Lord willing, I want to visit there. You asked what I am seeing this week. I am seeing I need to let go of things and let God handle them. I was able to let go of one thing in particular that I needed to. I am seeing more that He sees and knows all things and He can handle whatever it is. Thank you for this Lenten study!
    Doris

    • shelly

      Doris, we have friends here from Moldova! We’re going to their house for dinner in a few weeks. We used to stop in London on our way home from mission trips as well, it’s a great place to visit, even if you only have a layover. So much to see and do! And I also have English ancestry, you really must plan a trip to revisit your heritage, it will be so enriching. Thanks for sharing a little about your Sabbath Journey for Lent, I’m grateful. Let’s see what next week holds!

  9. Beth C

    As my 40th birthday approaches I have found myself grieving the fact I’d not met my husband sooner so we could have started our own family by now. But this was not God’s plan. We each spent most of our 30s single and though my heart is aching for a family of my own, I am wondering if God is planning to instead fulfill that desire in a nontraditional way. Perhaps my husband and I will instead have a rich relationship with our nieces and nephews, perhaps we will adopt, perhaps we will eventually minister to other single adults who do not have family in the area. Perhaps they will become our family too. God is opening my eyes to the fact that nothing He allows is without purpose. I must trust Him to unfold the details in His timing.

    • shelly

      As you know, God’s timing is perfect. But we usually only realize that in hindsight. I love the way you are thinking broad and deep and creatively about the possibilities, it leaves a lot of room for God to work. Thanks for being here!

  10. charlene cole

    I am learning to see that God made every part of me beautiful and valuable. There are parts of me i have always considered undesireable and unlovable. Ive tried so hard to be perfect….like a porcelin doll…beautiful, but not real. Now Ive been inspired by your themed “collages” to see all of me connected. Each part of the picture is important to the rest. Im not randomly disconnected, but fearfully and wonderfully made. I am excited to discover this woman God made me to be.

    • shelly

      Wow Charlene, this is really huge. Thank you so much for sharing this, I’m sure many of us can relate to feeling unlovable and undesirable. And the fact that God is revealing the truth to you as you rest, well, that is a priceless gift. I hope you will continue to share with us in the coming weeks as we rest parts of our anatomy.

  11. LuAnn

    Oh Shelly, as I rest my eyes on these images I see God’s tender kindness connecting our lives. Also, thank you for the encouragement to rest our eyes. I find my mind remembering the faithfulness of God in fresh ways.

  12. Lark Fiore

    I see the and experience the love and power of God as He leads me through each day as my husband’s sole caregiver. Folks ask, “How do you do it?” and I say , “L am not doing it. I am just showing up. God is doing it!” And, as you said, Shelly, I am so glad I am not in charge and making the plans. God’s grace is sufficient.

  13. Nancy Ruegg

    These words caught my attention: “See the image of God in the hearts beating under your roof.” Oh, yes! The image of God is imprinted in the thoughtfulness of my husband, the creativity of our artist son, the caring of our physician daughter-in-law, the joyful exuberance of our four-year old granddaughter, and on down the row of family members. How glorious that as I rest my eyes on each one, I see Him. Thank you for your heart-warming, restful thoughts here, Shelly!

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