How many times have you walked into a room of people you know, people who love you, and yet, you barely notice them?
Sometimes we overlook the most important people in our lives. These are people who are always there for us, so much so, that we have come to expect their help, their companionship, their love. We take them for granted. We treat them like a comfortable pair of old shoes.
Often these over-looked, comfortable people are our parents, our spouse, a best friend, or even our older children, as if their love is a given, and simply something we will always have.
But when we think deeper, we know that this is not so. Time takes its toll on our parents. Our spouse may occasionally like a “Thank you.” Our children may like to see appreciation in our eyes rather than hear our criticism. Our friends who help us may need help themselves.
We say we love them all, but do we show it? Often we put our own needs ahead of theirs without giving it a second thought, as if we deserve attention more than any one of them.
In this season of Advent, I plan to take a special look at those in my life whom I’ve taken for granted. I plan to consider what my life would be without them. I want to take a good look at myself and then realize that those times I’ve overlooked their goodness, I have wasted an opportunity to honestly show them how much I love them. Of course, this includes my relationship with God and His goodness.
In fact, if I truly see each of my loved ones as God’s own creation, how can I do otherwise?
Translating a World on the Edge 