God doesn't see my sand.

Last night some girlfriends were over for Bible study, and I'd had little time to clean up the house before they arrived.  As I sat down to begin our study, I saw dog hair all over the couches, dirt smudges on the area rug, and felt sand under my feet and on the cushions under my butt (sand which had somehow made its way from our son's new sandbox all the way into my living room and onto my furniture (how???) ).  In the kitchen were piles of dishes and papers and miscellaneous trinkets from all over the house that had yet to make it back to their designated spots (if such spots even existed).  I found myself apologizing to my friends out of embarrassment, to which they replied, 'Kara, your house always look so clean to us.'  My response was Whaaaat???  I was totally taken aback.  Because I definitely didn't see it that way.  It suddenly dawned on me that I possibly have a very flawed view of how my home looks to others.  Was I being far too hard on myself??

Then this morning I read a blog post by Mary over at (in)courage, in which she described a strikingly similar situation regarding a friend and her bathroom.  She then helped bring to focus a lesson in God's love.

Here's a little excerpt for you:

But I have a choice. I can choose what I see when I look at myself, at my life. I can see all the bad things, the ugly parts – or I can see the beauty and the goodness. So tonight, I’m going to see what I want to see...

The LORD does not look at the things people look at.
People look at the outward appearance,
but the LORD looks at the heart.
(1 Samuel 16:7b)

Check out the rest of the post here.