Things That Pull My Gaze Away

Like children, my pets are often jealous for my attention. If one is getting a belly rub, they all want their bellies rubbed. Hadley, my beagle, is probably the worst for it. She can be curled up somewhere dozing and if she opens an eye and catches one of the cats on my lap, she is there in a instant trying to get on too. Usually, she bulldozes Katy or Mali off my lap.

At night, I usually go to bed and Hadley joins me. Eventually the cats will follow. I've noticed that I can be giving Hadley some great one-on-one time (practically a full body massage) and she will hear one of the cats come in and be instantly drawn into an unwanted game of chase. Her focus moves from enjoying my company to wondering what those silly kitties are up to.

I must confess, I think I am like that with God. It's so easy for things going on in this world to pull my gaze away from God.

I think it is a bit like Peter in chapter 21 of John. Jesus has died and risen. He shows up on the beach to cook breakfast for the disciples and then pulls Peter away for a much needed talk. Peter's attention is drawn away by one of the other disciples.

Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is going to betray you?") When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?"

Jesus tells him not to worry about that disciple. It is none of his concern.

But I am just like Peter. I want to know, "What about so and so?" Or I say, "What about this situation? How is that going to work out?"

What I need to be doing is continuing to fix my gaze on Jesus and enjoy my time with Him.

Praying today that all of us would fix our gazes so firmly on Jesus that nothing will pull them away.

Focus

As a kid, I remember a couple summers of tee ball and one fall of soccer. Other than that, the only running I did was the random game of tag. I was never athletic and I had never had any interest in running. So, I am not sure what possessed me in March 2009 to join a beginning running group called Catch the Wave. This 10 training group aims to get people off the couch and in shape for a 4.37 mile race.

I'm posting today at the Internet Cafe. Click here to finish reading this post.

Find out here how I did on my second Lake Run on May 1!

Focus -- Hope Chronicles 86

When I was a child, I was told I had an astigmatism in one eye. However, my eyes compensated just fine. My vision was 20/20.

My dad had glasses for as long as I can remember. My younger sister had glasses as a child. My mom got reading glasses sometime when I was in late elementary school. So, in some ways I wasn't surprised when things started seeming a bit out of focus this winter. At first I thought it was just when I was tired and I needed to catch up on sleep. Then I noticed that I would sometimes get a headache. In May, having not seen an optometrist for at least 10 years, I called and made an appointment.

To my dismay, My suspicion was right. I need glasses. There isn't just one but several things going on with my eyes. Sigh again. I picked them up late Friday afternoon. They actually told me not to wear them driving for about a week and to use caution as my eyes would be adjusting and my depth perception might be off!

It has gotten me thinking about focus. Not only have my eyes seemed out of whack recently, but for the last 5 or 6 months, my entire life has seemed off kilter.

In December I finished up my year of writing about hope. I was pleased with how it had helped me focus. But not having that commitment to write about it weekly, I lost some of the focus. So, I think I am going to pick it up again. I need the hope. Here is to a renewed focus on HOPE.