Wonder-full Surprise? Or Do You Know What's Hiding in the Box?

I see the way she looks at him, and it melts my heart. 

I tell him that there's fairy dust sprinkled in every step he takes. 

I wonder if he sees it too. If he understands... if he fully grasps the awesome responsibility he carries. 

Having someone look at me like that would make me care. I would take great care in what I said, and what I did, always mindful to live right... to lead her well. It would be a 'burden' I wouldn't take lightly.

I wonder if he understands. I try to remind him not to mess up. Secretly, I pray that he doesn't ever disappoint her. 

But I'm wrong. 

It's not a responsibility to shoulder... a burden to bear. The way my daughter looks at her daddy is quite simply a gift she bestows on him. A gift that looks beyond his actions... accepts him as he is . . . always taking the best and kindest view of him, always hoping, always believing, always trusting. A gift of childlike love for her daddy.

I pray she never loses that sense of wonder. And I pray that we all can love like that. 

We are all fearfully and wonderfully made, each of us a masterpiece . . . expertly and lovingly crafted in the Master's hands. We see that clearly when we gaze at a newborn baby, everything is so new, each interaction so filled with anticipation and excitement. A gift from the Lord, exquisitely designed and wonderfully complex, each layer unwrapped yields a special treat, a surprise. 

But, as they age . . . as we age,  the polish fades and the luster gets smudged and our eyes and heart forget. Forget to look with wonder on the one created in the image of God. 

We stop looking for the hidden surprise and see only what we expect to see. We start building boxes around the people in our lives. 

'There's a surprise or two hiding in everyone, and if you put them in a box, you'll never get to see it.' The Growly Books  - Begin 

Perhaps, it's our need for order or our inability to fully appreciate the beautifully mysterious complexities of each other or maybe a survival instinct. Whatever the reason, we build boxes. 

I've been there . . . in a box . . . at the end of someone's wonder-less gaze, and it's not always pleasant. 

Sure, there are some boxes I don't mind - you know, 'attentive mom, passionate about her kids' - that's great! But, 'rules-based mom, who can't relax' - not so nice! 

Mostly, being placed in a box is stifling. 

It cramps me. It makes me feel unable to spread my wings and fly . . .  to be the me I'm becoming. Because in that box I'm the me that was. And there is no room to grow . . . no grace extended for me to wriggle free. Robbed of my chance to change and grow and flourish, that's how I feel when I'm trapped in a box of someone's making. 

So, why? Why do I do it to others?

Why can't I see others the way my daughter sees my husband? With that willingness to believe the best, looking for the surprise in every encounter? With full acceptance for who they are and who they are becoming, wholly believing that they are full of wonder and brimming with unexpected surprises.

I want to be like Merridy in our latest read-aloud who 'always seemed to look for the surprises in everything around her, and with endless joy and wonder, . . . always seemed to find them . . . Everyone who met her felt a little bit greater afterward, because she always seemed to find something wonderful in you that you had never realized was there.'    

That is a gift I would love to give to others, to put aside my automatic reactions based on assumptions about who I think they are and to simply see them and appreciate them for who they really are, while giving them room to grow and become who God designed them to be. 

Isn't that the way God loves us?  We are all fully known yet loved with a never-ending always and forever love. 

Especially now, I wish I could love like that. Don't you? 

My prayer for me . . . for you . . . for us all is that out of His glorious riches God may strengthen us with power 'to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ' and that we would joyfully share that unconditional love with others. 

What a gift that would be!

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What about you?

Can you think of someone who could use this gift today? 

How will you intentionally look for the surprises today? 

Grace and peace to you,

Carlie

*This post previously published on April 3, 2016

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I've also selected these other hope-filled posts for you for such a time as this. 

You can click on the title to read. 

How to Find Peace When Life Feels Abnormal

What I Need to Remember When my Shoulders Ache

When You're in a Desperate Search for Safety

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Wonder-full Surprise? Or Do You Know What's Hiding in the Box?