I Can See Clearly Now

 I got new glasses today.  Wow!  I haven't had new glasses in three years and my view of the world was accordingly fuzzy.  I went for a totally new style of glasses too, way different than anything I've done before.  As I read through a piece of music for one of my students tonight I was amazed at how much easier and more enjoyable it was.

 That got me thinking.  Reagan's Down syndrome is my glasses for life.  She has changed my perspective and style. Since she was born I have found life clearer and more easy.  More easy?  Yes.  Really.  See what I have learned is that the words difficult and hard are not the same thing.  When we say life is hard we mean it is hard to bear.  When we say it is difficult we mean that we have to work at it.  When we work at things though, we reap the satisfaction of our efforts.  And hope.  And hope keeps life from being hard to bear.  Clarity.  Perspective.  With the new clarity comes added joy.  And joy makes life easier. There is a verse that says For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.  This of course refers to the clarity we will have in heaven, but having a child like Reagan in our lives is a little piece of heaven.

And so we get just a little slice of that clarity to filter our view of the world.  Sweetness, innocence,  hard work.  The value and fragility of life.  The community.  The passion.  These are all the lenses that have changed my view of the world.  They are not rose-colored, they are God given.