Monday's Musing - Lesson From a Bridal Shower

So, my daughter AnnaMarie is getting married soon. 

We're so excited! She and her fiance' are great for each other. And we're in the season of showers. Fun, fun!

Recently, one of her bridesmaids had a shower for her. Of course I took my camera along. 

My girl looked beautiful with her sash on. Then came the tiara. 







While my eldest daughter received her tiara, my younger daughter had a blast getting in the pictures where her older sister couldn't see. She photo bombed the shots. And they were hilarious. 









As a mom, I love how my girls get along! They really do love each other, different personalities and all. 

AnnaMarie totally laughed at the shots when she saw them. 

I could see what was going on and made sure I caught her sister's antics. 

And these are only some of the shots!







Finally, when the tiara sat on AnnaMarie's head, I cropped out everything around her and focused my camera on her beautiful smile. No photo bombing. Just a radiant bride to be. 

I learned something from going back through the pictures. 




One lesson is that AnnaMarie could only see what was going on right in front of her. She didn't notice her playful sister in the background. While in this case, the distraction out of her view was fun and playful, sometimes in life, what's going on around us isn't so great. And we're not even aware. 

Or maybe we are. And it's hard. 

We can't see from our perspective. 

But God does. 

Even during the time AnnaMarie was receiving her crown, other things were going on. That's just like our lives. God is crowning us, making us co-heirs with Christ. As women, we are daughters of the King. But there is other stuff going on around us. God doesn't always stop it. 

But in the end, he isn't distracted by it. 

He uses it for our good. 

Because ultimately, he focuses in on each of us. His lens sees us as who we really are. Daughters and sons of the king. 

Yes, he really loves you. He will walk with you through the valleys and the mountain tops. 

But he sees the whole picture and the end. He sees you in light of eternity. 

And he smiles at his beautiful daughter. 

How have you felt God's smile on you?