Have you ever surprised yourself? What I am really talking about is change. I usually fight change, but appreciate it in retrospect.
I used to think that art museums and galleries were a waste of time. Now I am the one who who moves the slowest when we visit one. I love the Anderson Arts Center in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the Museum of Wisconsin Art in West Bend, Wisconsin, and Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art in St. Joseph, Missouri. I have only been to two big city art museums, but they were spectacular, Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City and the Milwaukee Art Museum.
We just redecorated our living room and had the pleasure of browsing through art.com to find some wall art options to present to Patty. It’s a fun thing for me. I appreciate beauty, color, and creativity. I used to be too busy and preoccupied for such.
Somehow, I have become the family gardener. Again, I didn’t used to care about such things. I mowed the grass and trimmed bushes. I didn’t know the names of plants or care and I never changed anything. I just wanted the grass to look good.
A couple of years ago, I began removing several large bushes from around the house which gave me the opportunity to design new perennial beds. Every place a bush or perennial bed was has now been changed. I loved the opportunity to create a new look.
My whole world view has changed. It has gotten bigger. I see beauty, I see God everywhere. All of these changes were the result of getting out of an exclusively religious mindset. My view of God and his workings has become much bigger.
I am thankful for that.
Photo Credit: Zack Etienne. Creative Commons.
