Perspective (by Matt)

Andrea already shared in a previous post about my worries about "missing" my sap flow for this year when we went to visit K.  However, she did not share this photo of what happened after making syrup all day Saturday.




I was bringing the syrup into the house and since all the kids were sleeping, I decided I would try to open the door on my own and not bother Andrea or wake the kids.  The result was that the pot slipped out of one of my hands and dumped a couple cups worth of syrup down my pants and onto the stoop.  My initial reaction and comment to Andrea when she came to the door, after I knocked before trying to open the door and spill the remaining contents of the pot, were "there is a couple of wasted hours." 

Or maybe not.

In our Friday night bible study we are working our way through Colossians and had been talking about the beginning of chapter 3 this past week.  "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things..."  So here is the perspective.  My initial reaction (mind set on earthly things) was to think about the time wasted and the syrup lost because of my spilling the pot.  However, as we talked about at study, part of what it means to set your mind on things above is to think about the things that happen here from the perspective of where we ARE...seated with Christ in the heavenlies.  So, as I finished cleaning up and putting things away, my thinking about what happen shifted.  All day yesterday, from 7:30 in the morning until about 9 at night, I spent outside around the 'sugarin rig' and for many of those hours, I was able read my bible while I tended the fire and the sap pans.  I was able to read from 1 Corinthians all the way through Hebrews, something that I don't often have the time to do in one sitting.  So, in reality, nothing was wasted.  I spent all day soaking in the word and I also happened to get some syrup as a bonus!