"Hey , what's in YOUR eye?"

We just got back from an awesome vacation in Florida, so for the next 2 or 3 blogs, I will be sharing some stories and lessons learned with you. My prayer is that they will encourage and challenge you.


We had just finished eating at Cracker Barrel (one of Macayla's favorite places) in Memphis, TN. We had decided to try and make the trip to Florida by driving it through the night. Matt had been driving for a while, so it was my turn. Everyone was in their seat, buckled up and ready to go and I told Matt that I needed to go ahead and take my contacts out and put my glasses on. It was starting to get darker and I knew driving through the night with my contacts in, that my eyes would dry out very fast. So I took my right contact out first and put it in the case. After I removed my left one and put it in the case, I immediately started rubbing my left eye. It was a little irritated and dry and as I rubbed, I felt something else on my eyelashes...like another contact, but I knew that couldn't be because I just put it in the case. My first thought was, "Oh great...my contact just ripped." And I didn't pack any extras...duh! I reached up at my eye to see what the deal was and sure enough, I pulled out a 2nd contact!!! I had gone several hours with 2 contacts in 1 eye!!!

At this point, you should be asking, "How did you manage to do that?" Here's the deal. After I got home from church that day before we left, I decided to change out my old contacts to a new pair for the trip. Apparently, I never removed the old one before I put in the new one. Yes, to answer your next question, it did feel rather weird, but nothing that unusual, b/c my eyes are dry a lot and occasionally blurry when I first put them in anyway. So there I was, getting ready to drive while pulling 2 contacts out of 1 eye...I'm sure my family felt totally safe!!!

It got me thinking about this as the trip went along. I remember how good it felt to get those contacts out. My left eye was so irritated and dry after I got those contacts out, but I can't imagine how they would have felt had I left them in any longer. Are you familiar with the verses in Matthew 7:3-5 which say, "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." I got to thinking about the "planks" that are in my eyes. I hate to admit this, and I'm actually embarrassed by it as a Christ-follower, but it's very easy for me to point out all the "specks" in those around me.

As we made that almost 22 hour drive to our destination, God was working on me. I began thinking about how great it felt after getting those "planks" out of my eye...a.k.a. "2 contacts". And how there are so many other irritations in my own life that are distracting me from being able to clearly see what God has for me. Here's just some of my "planks"...anger, bitterness, lack of faith, fear, pride...I could go on. What are some of your "planks"? And or you asking God to help you with those or are you only dealing with the "specks" that you see in others' lives, ones that you really would like to take matters into your own hands and rip them out?

Sometimes, we think it would feel so much better if we could remove those out of "someone else". Of course, not in our own life. We have it all together, right? Wrong! That's pride. This week, let's do inventory in what "planks" we must remove. Let's not leave them in any longer. God helped me see a bit more clearly after I removed my contacts. God will help you too.