The patient stared at the mirror as if lost in thought. He studied every contour of his own face. His eyes were a steel blue. He had deep furrows above his eyebrows. When he squinted he noticed those wrinkles, too. His skin was not smooth, and it showed the effects of long days in the sun. He had that distinguished look because of his slightly graying hair. "What do I see?" he thought.

The patient glanced up at the counselor with a slight gleam in his eyes, and grinned. Then he began to sheepishly look away as if he knew a secret that no one else could possibly know.

"Well, counselor... this is what I see. I see times when my heart wasn't right and worry gripped me as if I had no hope. That's how I got those wrinkles in my forehead there. The gray hair I earned from raising 3 kids. They're good kids, too... married with kids of their own, now. The blue eyes I got from my momma, and her momma. She had the kind of blue eyes that could melt butter, and at the same time give you a look that could stop you dead in your tracks. As you can see, I've been out in the sun alot. I worked in construction for many years. I guess the suntan never left me."

"Interesting", the counselor commented. "I've had quite a similar experience myself. What sort of construction work have you done?"

"Oh, I've been building houses for a long time - all kinds of houses. Big ones, small ones, fancy ones, and simple ones."

The counselor and the patient talked for a couple of hours, and it was nearing the end of the session, so the counselor posed one last question to his patient.

"Why are you here? You don't seem to really have any problems that you need me to help you with."

The patient looked up at the counselor and smiled. "I'm not here for you to counsel me. I'm here to present to you the house that I've built for you."

"What house?" said the counselor.

"I've been working on it for a long time," said the patient. "In fact, we've met before. You might not remember all that much about our meeting, but I remember you. I knew your kids and mom, too."

So, it was ... the counselor met THE COUNSELOR at the house warming.

How often do we attempt to counsel God instead of just sitting back and having a heart to heart chat with Him? What would we see in the mirror if we allowed ourselves to see what God sees?

By Jenn © 10/19/02