Just when I convince myself that this is going to be a season of life where I do not have a friend in the town I live in God has me meet a beautiful daughter of his who I could totally be friends with. I met her today at chick-fil-a while our daughters played in the play place (yay). She also happens to be a real estate agent and we were talking about the layout of a beautiful new white brick house. She brought up how the layout would not be the best for groceries. I nodded yes because she is absolutely right. The door from the garage does not open up right by the kitchen. However this really is all about perspective isn't it?
I firmly believe that a lot of opinions are firmly affected by perspective and based by comparing something to what you know. For example one time I asked my Yankee friend about an American BBQ place while we lived in Okinawa and she said it was "really good." She was not raised in the BBQ loving south and had not even heard of biscuits and gravy so I should have remained suspicious of the restaurant. I was actually surprised when the place was just mediocre. I understand that her definition of really good BBQ and my definition of really good BBQ are just not the same. It would do in a southern food craving attack but I would definitely not catagorize it as "really good." Of course I've had a lot of reaalllllyyy good BBQ in my life and came from a town that hosts a big BBQ on the River where hundreds of vendures show up to battle for the best BBQ awards. Mmmmmhmm how far away is September?
So sure, in my current rental the door to the garage gives me three steps from the door to the refrigerator which is super convenient. So compared to my current layout the other place is not super grocery convenient. However if I had seen the layout of that house a year ago I would have thought it was amazingly convenient. My dear friends in Okinawa and I had quite the time getting our groceries from the car to the kitchen. In my last Okinawa home I walked at least 25 feet just to my front door with a new baby and an arm holding as many geoceries as absolutely possible. I laid everything by the front door, unlocked and opened the door, then placed all the bags inside in the foyer. If I had to make more trips I did until it was all in the foyer. Then I started making however many trips were necessary to take the groceries up the flight of staires, passed the small landing, up the next few stairs, through the hallway, and into the kitchen. The goal of course was to get everything cold in the house up the stairs and in the refrigerator before the baby lost patience cuddled in her carrier. Most of my friends had just as long of a walk, if not longer, to their building, an elevator ride up several stories then another long walk to their homes and kitchens. If any of us had seen the layout of this new house we would have thought it was a perfect dream.
I do firmly believe that a lot of opinions are really based on perspective and experiences. The house my family is currently living in is actually the fourth home my husband and I have shared and this is the first one that was not painfully inconvenient for groceries. I can't just compare a maybe future to the now, I need to remember all my experiences and everything I've learned in the past.
Thank you Heavenly Father for the experiences you have given me and for reminding me to stop and remember how those experiences have equipped me for the now, the future, and the perspective you want me to have. You are amazing, always good, and always faithful.
