Open My Eyes?

The puppies are at least twice as big as they were at birth. (I’ll post an updated picture of them soon.) A few hours ago, I caught one of the girls trying to open her eyes for the first time. Through little slits, I glimpsed a milky sheen.

How did the world look to her? Does she think the entire universe is a HUGE cardboard box with a big warm thing in it that licks her clean, feeds her, and abruptly leaves whenever it wants? And what are all the warm squirmy, squeaky things that crawl over her?

Of course the world has more to offer her than a whelping box and a nursing mother. There are infinite things she might experience in her life. Bounding into cold water to retrieve a duck for a hunter, or sleeping next to a toddler who claims her for his own, or even warning an epileptic of a coming seizure. The world is her oyster … er, kennel.

Aren’t we like that? We become used to the everyday routine we know to be our life, yet the possibilities reach endlessly out ahead of us. In the last few weeks I’ve attended court proceeds concerning our foster daughter, painted and cleaned and did a year’s worth of projects in preparation for my cousin’s wedding here last weekend, moved forward in my writing career, had frequent discussions with my agent, returned to the preschool world of story time and met new friends, watched the first African-American president be elected, finished reading the Narnia series to my kids, and will soon do my first professional speaking gig next weekend.

It’s a busy life, but a rich one. Thanks to all the veterans who made such an existence possible. And to the Lord who makes it all, please open my eyes that I might see all the blessings and opportunities around me.