What I've Learned in Housekeeping: It's all about the angle

A few days ago I was on windexing duty and my fearless leader came over to let me know that I missed a spot.

"Where? I don't see it."
"Well, (laughing) you have to stand exactly where I am. Come over here."
"Oh, yes. Got it."

This is a common routine.  At least a few times a day I find myself running to ever angle in the bathroom I'm cleaning to make sure I didn't miss a spot on the mirror. If you're cleaning a kitchen, sometimes you can only see the grease on the front of the stove if you stand near the door.

It's all about the angle.

Life is all about perspective.

I like to think that I'm a pretty cool, down to earth person. But in reality, I tend to be selfish.  If I had to take a guess, I would say that you can be pretty selfish too. We all can be. All of us.  It's part of human nature. We tend to put ourselves first, think about the things we desire, and even pray about what we want most.  For me, right now I have one particular thing I'm praying for everyday and I'm almost getting sick of myself because its just material.  I could be praying for friends, family, the persecuted, the hungry, my husband, or tons of things, but instead I am praying for that one thing that I want.  I'm not saying that's wrong because God does care about what we care about and we do need thing, but sometimes we need to look at life from a different angle.

Are you going through a hard time? You're not alone.  There are thousands of people who are probably feeling like you do, history is full of stories like yours, and there are many in the world who are worse off. It's ok to feel pain, sadness, and loneliness-especially if it's part of a grieving process. But don't stay there.  Change you're perspective and see life from a different angle.

King David knew how to do this.  Even though he had slayed Goliath and was anointed King as a teenager, his life wasn't easy.  He was run out of town, the current King wanted to murder him and his best friend was killed.  Even after he became King he still made mistakes (Bathsheba anyone?) that led to heartbreak and his own son tried to overthrow him.  Yet he says,

My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festival throng.  Why, my soul, are you downcast? And why so disturbed within me?  Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.


He told his soul to hope in God.  He made himself see it from a different perspective. Sometimes that's what it takes.  We have to step out to change our angle, the same way my fearless leader asked me to walk to the other side of the room to see the smudge on the window.

Life is all about perspective and we can all use an adjustment sometimes.