Sorry Saturday: Let's Focus on The Big Picture

My family and I are five days into a two-week vacation. (Erin and Blake opted out, but Allison and Dylan joined us for this adventure.)

We've seen Mt. Rushmore and the Black Hills in South Dakota, Yellowstone in Wyoming, Glacier in Montana, Seattle in Washington, and Crater Lake in Oregon...so far.

We can't wait to drive down the coast of California tomorrow and later show the kids more beautiful national parks and introduce them to the Grand Canyon.

I got an idea for this week's blog while we were on the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park on Wednesday. It was glorious. We looked out across mountains and the deep valley below as we drove higher and higher: 

We saw waterfalls all over the place and enjoyed the view. I noticed the pretty wildflowers as we drove, too. Yellow, purple, white...and red. I saw little groups of red flowers and decided I wanted to get a good picture of them along the rock wall beside us. After we turned around to come back through the park, I couldn't stop looking beside the road for the perfect place to take a picture. Whenever there was a group of flowers, there wasn't a good place to stop.

I told Gary about it and his response was: "What red flowers?" (To be fair, his eyes were on the road ahead of us most of the time so we didn't go careening over the edge. I'm so glad!)

After I pointed them out, he noticed them, too, but we couldn't find a good place to stop. I almost gave up, but toward the end of the drive we saw a few along the road and he found a place to pull off. I walked back to take a couple of pictures. There weren't many flowers, but they were kind of pretty:

Then I looked up and knew I had to take my photo from a different angle:

As I jogged back to the car and we continued on our way, I pondered that situation many times. I realized that I had become so consumed with a good shot of those little flowers that I had missed looking at the big picture and the beauty of the mountains and the valley right in front of me (and above me, and below me).

I love details, and it's not bad that I saw the flowers, but I had to remember to keep the big picture in mind as well. The picture of the flowers with the mountains behind it was so much nicer than the picture of just the flowers.

How often don't I do the same thing in life?

I get bogged down in the details, especially the negative ones, and I forget to see the Big Picture.

I see the little bulge of flesh around my waist and I get discouraged about that instead of thanking God for my healthy body that gets me around and allows me to see all of these wonderful places and serve God in many different ways.

I notice something in one of my kids that I think should be different and I stress about that instead of thanking God for healthy, capable children. I know God will lead them in the ways He has for them, so I can just pray and enjoy watching Him work as I love each of them.

I bristle at something my husband says in a stressful moment and I rehearse it in my mind way too many times instead of letting it go and remembering all of the kind and loving words he has said in our twenty-seven years of marriage.

I have a bad day and I choose to complain to God and whine about my situation instead of remembering that He has good plans for me and things will work out in the end. The good far outweighs the bad, especially when we have our hearts tuned to look for the little blessings God sends our way every day.

Details are important and they make life beautiful and interesting, but we can never forget the Big Picture.

Gary, Dylan, and Allison at Glacier. They're part of the Big Picture!

"You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you." (Isaiah 26:3 NIV)

Do you sometimes get so bogged down in the details that you fail to see the Big Picture? How can focusing on God help you to keep both in balance?