Right behind our eyes!

We all just want to be noticed!

I remember when I was a little girl, the delight I felt when someone noticed my new swirly dress or my shiny new Mary Janes.  I would beam and swirl and twirl.  My heart was simple then and pure. 

I see my granddaughters swirling to be noticed now.  Beaming pure heaven from their little faces.  A sweet reminder of myself.  How we all desire to be seen, to be noticed,

to be accepted and loved.  

My dad was wonderful about noticing me.  He would tell me often that I was special.  His words would fill my heart and I thought I could do anything that I put my mind to.  I think I was blessed!  

He would tell me that Jesus had something special for my life.  At age 8, I remember wondering what that was.  What might Jesus want for me.  

I tell my sweet granddaughters that they are good at twirling and swirling. That Jesus has something special for them. Their eyes glow! 

As an adult being noticed by others continued to be important to me, I wondered if I mattered to those around me.  Whether it was for my abilities, a job well done or just a kind word or smile.  We all long for approval and affirmation.  

I would look for people to speak into my life.  I would yearn for words from others to encourage my soul.  But I would get stuck in the worry about what people thought of me.  

I think we put too much weight and thought where it is not necessary.  I would continue to wonder what Jesus wanted for me. 

I hoped that maybe I mattered.  I sometimes wondered if that was a normal thought.  I think I've been looking for that most of my life.  It was how I functioned. 

I know we all just want to be seen, to know that we matter to someone. 

My soul swells when I receive a smile from someone in that occasional moment when I am feeling lousy and distant.  I would breathe in words, I was noticed!  

Those moments capture my attention, and I feel good, and blessed and my heart enlarges.  I want to notice them back and smile genuinely.  

We've all been in places where we've stood unnoticed. We felt invisible.  Someone cuts in front of us in line or we walk into a room where we never felt more alone.  

You wonder to yourself what, am I invisible? Maybe feeling over looked for a specific job or opportunity.  Those hollow moments leave us absorbed in self pity. 

So begins the stumbling down that slick, icy slope and at the bottom finding our souls empty.  Guts and feelings dripping out like melted ice. 

Whispering to myself that I am once again "not enough."  Wondering if God even noticed me.  I would ponder the thought that I guess I'm a failure again.  

I think we listen to lies way too much.  We hear the damaging whispers that shout louder and louder that soon drowns out the truth. 

I've wasted too much time listening to those lies.

I do think that God takes our failures and the times we feel unnoticed and speaks over them. Maybe He even shouts above our failures because that's how love works. 

I know he redeems and in time gives those places meaning.  That's Gods heart of redemption.  His redeeming love.

But it doesn't happen right away. It takes time to listen in and grow.  I'm so glad He never stops listening to our hearts cry.  Even in the silence and the questions, He redeems. 

This is what I'm learning.  It's not how others make us feel that matters but rather how we make others feel.  

Noticing others in a new way might be a gift to someone.  But We receive the blessing.  Making others feel special. 

Noticing the broken, the unnoticed and the weary, the poor and sad.  I think that's what Jesus does through our eyes! 

You never know what that might do for someone's soul.  Maybe you will help enlarge someone's heart. Maybe Jesus will be seen. 

Help us Lord to be the ones who see, who notice!  Jesus wants us to tell the world that they matter to Him.  

My prayer is to see with new eyes!  Maybe it's through our eyes, God looks to see others.  Maybe that's where he resides, right behind our eyes!  

1 Samuel 12:16 

Now then, stand still and see this great thing The Lord is about to do before your eyes! 

1Thessalonians 1:4 

For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you. 

Genesis 16:13

She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”