Sunday, May 22, 2011

Believing the Best

My daughters were flower girls in a wedding yesterday.   Their job was to follow the bride everywhere, keep their satin dresses clean, and smile.   I envisioned disaster the whole morning.  I could just see my youngest stepping on the bride's train and sending her flying on her face.  I could just picture the oldest one stomping off in protest of having to stand still for the entire ceremony. 

I became a controlling, negative mother as I worried about their performance.  Those girls were going to ruin everything.

I imagined the worst.  I really did. 

But when the moment came, I turned and saw my girls walking perfectly down the aisle, casting rose petals left and right.  When I saw them standing still and smiling for 30 minutes, and when I saw how they gazed at the bride and floated around her like little angels, I felt ashamed at my own lack of faith in them. 

I'm a mom who imagines the worst instead of believing the best.  Something changed in my heart yesterday.  Instead of anticipating their failure, I learned to delight in those little girls.  I want to believe the best from now on.  Not just in parenting, but in marriage and in friendship.  And what about my relationship with God?  Do I believe the best instead of anticipating disaster? 

Living with flair means believing the best about people. 

________________
Journal:  Who needs you to believe the best about him or her? 

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Sounds like a change from "scarcity" thinking to "abundance" thinking! Congratulations to your "angels." I will start thinking abundantly...I love how you allow God to turn worrisome situations into opportunities for flair. "Flair" should soon become a "new" word like "Google," with your definition :). Thanks.

A View From Serenity Acres said...

Heather, I loved this post. I needed this post! I have at times caught myself doing the same thing. Allowing vain imaginations to run wild in my head instead of trusting that all would go well. I think I need to believe the best when it comes to God because there are times when I feel as though he has not allowed something I wanted to happen occur. He could be keeping me from a lot of trouble. I have to believe the best about His intentions as well as those around me. Thank you for the sweet reminder!

Dianna said...

Why is it so easy to imagine the very worst?? I'm so glad your daughters helped you (& your readers) learn to believe in the best!
Good for them!

Melissa@Vidastyle said...

I just found your blog during a blog hope and so much of what you say speaks to me. I too, often think the worst, and need to look for the best.