By Roger Moore

Perception according to Webster’s Dictionary is defined as: a result of perceiving.

The Thanksgiving holiday has come and gone. We all are now preparing for Christmas.

My Thanksgiving was spent with my son and his family visiting from central Virginia. We have two granddaughters, one who is six years old and one who is eight months old. They are such joys to spend time with and we love them dearly!

The house was clean upon their arrival, however it didn’t take long before the six-year-old had pulled her toys out and commenced to deploy them to different parts of the house. Certain toys should be in certain rooms for retrieval when she has a desire to play with them.

Then began the removal and repositioning of certain keepsakes and whatnots from within reach of the eight-month-old, being as she has just recently began to crawl and pull herself up—making all things within reach fair game for inserting into her mouth.

After they left for home the process of returning all things to its previous place began and the cleanup commenced.

To some this may be perceived as a lot of work, but to me, it’s so worth it! Nothing can make a papa smile more than hearing the laughter of his grandbabies as they play and run to and fro. Excitement at its best! This may not have happened had God not been merciful to our only child.

Several years back my son had become addicted to street drugs and almost lost his life in a car accident. He had passed out behind the wheel and was taken to jail for a DUI. The phone call the next morning from his wife telling us what had happened was shocking to his mother and myself. Our world as we knew had been shaken.

We drove up to visit him to make sure he was okay and he begged us to post bail and get him out. He had never been behind bars and now at 25 he was talking to us from behind a glass barrier. All freedom had been taken from him as the result of his choices and now we had to make a choice.

Probably one of the hardest choices I have ever had to face in my life was to leave him there for the next several weeks leading up to Christmas. Our thinking was he was safe and needed time to clear his head and this was as good a reality check as you get. Thankfully, the next few weeks looking out from behind bars brought a new perspective for his life.

He turned his life around with the help of God and has been drug-free since his accident. We are very proud of his accomplishments as of today. He has become a great father to his children, a great husband to his wife, and all because his perception of life was changed.

In the book of Acts chapter 9 we find the story of a man who had a life changing encounter that changed his perception about his way of living. His name at that time was Saul. You see Saul was very religious and devout Pharisee and persecuted Christians because that was how he was taught and raised. But he had an encounter with the one he was persecuting and it forever changed his life, so much so that Saul became Paul and is credited with writing nearly two-thirds of the New Testament. Pretty awesome change of perception!

How we perceive what goes on in our life is what we believe to be reality. My reality could have been very different had God not been merciful to my family and my son several years ago. The holidays may have been different, the second grandchild may have never been born, and seeing the other may not be as often as it is now. I’ve learned to be thankful every day for the mercy and blessings of God!

So all the cleaning, cooking, and replacing are perceived as opportunity to spend time with family and give God thanks for the life He has blessed us with.

May we all take time to inventory our perception of life during the holidays and see if maybe there may be some perceived ideas that we need to change. Life is great if we treasure what really matters the most.

Material things can be replaced if need be, but family, just like ourselves, will one day be gone way too soon.

Love them now each and every day for we know not what tomorrow holds.

May your Christmas be full of joy and laughter and you New Year be the best ever.