A Perfect Window
By Lesli Westfall
In November of last year my husband and I took a well-needed and deserved break. We visited our dear friends and children on their farm in Idaho. I’ve been privileged to travel many states in the U.S., but this was a first in Idaho, the gem state. I loved it! Especially the town of Boise, contemporary yet with a small town feel. The city has a good atmosphere with warm friendly people, an unbelievable farmer’s market with exceptional crafts and artisan foods. A variety of great restaurants abound, like the Basque food we sampled and the Dim Sum (I sampled chicken feet. Let’s just say I’ll stick with my Texas BBQ). However, representing my favorite food group ‘Caffeine’ were ‘The Chocolat Bar’ and the ‘Remembrandt Coffee House’. Two places where I could take my computer, sit a spell, have some good eats and java, and write for awhile!
As we went to and fro visiting various places there was an old shed nearby which always caught my eye. With each passing I’d think to myself, ‘I want to get a picture of that!’ A uniqueness surrounded the structure, maybe it was the soft hued colors compared to the lingering vibrant foliage of autumns’ last days or perhaps it was the rugged, worn look of the building compared to the manicured pastures (thanks to the horses), and stately residences surrounding it.
On a late Sunday afternoon, as some were taking naps and others doing farm chores I decided to take a walk. I packed my Sony Cybershot Camera and iPhone in my pockets and armed myself with my husband’s new fancy- pants camera, a Canon 5D. I was determined to capture some images of this old place. Along the way, I snapped pictures of a vineyard, horses willing to come to the fence for a visit and a tree farm with the rows of trees displaying their fall beauty.
Finally I came upon the old shed, walking all around I must have taken at least fifty pictures! Since I’m a camera novice, I tried to shoot from various angles and camera settings, at dusk no less. To no avail only a few pictures turned out good. But sometimes when I see a structure, landscape, or the like, it brings inspiration to me.
Like this window.
When I walked up to it, thoughts flooded my mind. Yes, it is an old shed, dusty and worn, cobwebs connecting the broken panes, but I saw a point to be made.
Look at the window again. Focusing on the foreground you see brokenness, sharp, jagged protrusions of the glass. The pain of the present is near us. A vivid reminder of the brokenness and protruding pain infertility causes; like the monthly disappointments of negative pregnancy tests or a failed fertility treatment after thousands of dollars spent. The cobwebs; like the dusty piled-up prayers reflecting the longing in our hearts to become mothers. The lingering years of hoping, believing and praying for children of our own, still yet to be fulfilled.
I see the brokenness in the window and I have felt its’ pain, so to speak, and I’m sure you have to.
Now, peer beyond the broken glass, what do you see?
A perfect window.
A complete square, no panes broken, with a beautiful image in the distance.
The pain of the present keeps us from seeing the distant future; His plan for you and me. My friend, come humbly before Him and surrender all! The deep heartache, the ‘why is this happening to me’? and all of the longings to Him. He can put the broken pieces of your soul back together again, He can blow the cobwebs off of your dusty piled-up prayers and breathe expectant hope into you. He’ll strengthen you so you can move forward to the future.
I know this to be true because our great God has done this for me (and still does). I believe He can do this for you!
Like the perfect window, His plan for your life is nothing short of perfect and complete.
As a myriad of thoughts flooded my mind when I viewed this image, so did these scriptures. Praying you’ll be encouraged today!
Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see vision into perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I know everything complete, just as God knows me completely. 1 Corinthians 13:2.
For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, plans to prosper, not to harm you, to give you a hope and future. Jeremiah 29:11
But the path of righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until the full day. Proverbs 13:12
My prayer for you: “May inspiration come as you surrender to God your pain of the present. As you peek into your perfect window, may your prayers have life again with expectant hope and may you see, by faith, the beautiful image in the distance as you place your trust in Him for your future.”
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