Through the Eyes of Love

I’m jealous of people with proof-reading skills. As you may have noticed, given the many misspelled words in my blog, I have zero proofing skills. I know the rules in my head…I have aced every English Language and Composition class I’ve ever taken. However, I just can’t proofread. I get so wrapped up in content and idea that I don’t see the mistakes. It’s a problem that has plagued me like a paper cut since high school.

I write much like I talk and think. I like short and sweet thoughts. In the world of Sarah, too many paragraphs is better than too few.

I once read that the internet has spoiled our ability to write complete thoughts in paragraph form. I agree with that premise. I started using the email system in 1999. Since that time I have developed a sort of reading attention deficit—that is to say I can’t stand to read paragraphs longer than a few sentences. I literally get lost in them.

But I digress…

I just don’t see my own mistakes. (Boy, couldn’t that turn theological real fast?!) Thank goodness for the spell-check system and the man I married (who has impeccable proofing skills which he generously shares). He once tried to figure out why I can’t see mistakes in something I have written. There is but one explanation: I read thru the eyes of love.

I am totally and blissfully incapable of being objective about things I write and now, my scrapbook pages. I labor over them—especially the layouts—trying different things, making adjustments, shifting, replacing, redoing until every element is “right”. It’s an imprecise art, as “right” only exists in the blurry eye of my mind and I won’t know it until I see it. Creating, for me, is a labor of love. When a layout is done (and not until), I love it. If I don’t love it, it’s not done. It’s a sort of birthing process.

Maybe that’s why there are dozens of layouts in progress hanging around my workspace. Hmm…

This “thru the eyes of love” concept translates into other areas too. It makes correcting school work difficult but it makes me able to give generous complements on effort. It makes me able to enjoy letters from family and friends, despite errors that would annoy those with the gift of proofing. It makes me look at my sons and see what they can be when they are clean and calm, instead of the dirt-covered, mischievous munchkins they are most of the time. It allows me to look at the art of others and see past what I would have done differently “had I done this piece” to truly enjoy the piece just as it is.

There are some down sides. The inability to proof my own work cost me serious points in college. I’m not objective about my scrapbook pages…meaning sometimes I value them too highly. “Through the eyes of love” was much to blame for wasting time with the wrong guy in high school and having my heart broken. It also contributed to us buying a house that needed more work than we originally imagined. (I’m still deciding if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.)

When I think about looking at people in my life and things I’ve created “through the eyes of love”, seeing them with value, despite their flaws and imperfections, I realize that’s close to how God looks at His children. He sees us as we are, yet also values us for what we could be in Him.

And some days...many days that amazes me.