I’ve grown up knowing that what comes out of my mouth is a reflection of what is in my heart. When there is good in my heart, good comes out of my mouth. I’ve always thought about it related to my words, but recently I’ve been thinking about it regarding my eyes. Or more specifically, the way I see the things around me. When my heart is in a good place, I see the overflowing goodness around me. I see the good first. When my heart is in a bad place, well I certainly don’t see the good around me first.
We had pancakes for lunch over the weekend. More often than I’d like, I see the dirty dishes first.
But this weekend, I saw the beauty first. I saw the tiny little things that make a very ordinary lunch seem extraordinary. Out of the abundance of my heart, my eyes saw.
Safety googles and sun bleached hair…I need a slow life so I don’t miss noticing these. I need my heart in a place that I can see and celebrate this, not think “Time for another haircut. Didn’t we just get it cut? Add another thing to the list.”
And oddly enough, as I was writing this post…thinking about how what flows out of me is a reflection of what is inside of me….my daughter walked up to me like this:
My camera was still next to me from downloading the pancake pictures…so I snapped another shot….of her newly cut hair in her hands.
Another real life reminder to me…how I respond to her in this moment is a reflection of what is going on in my heart.
Out of the abundance of my heart…my mouth speaks, my eyes see, my life is lived.
Jenny - This is the gentle reminder I needed this morning. My heart is a bit grumpy this morning and the words out of my mouth were the same. Time to regroup, reflect and start the morning again!
Nicole @ Living Out His Love - This is a beautiful post, thanks for sharing! A gentle reminder is good for all of us!
Corey Moortgat - Not five minutes ago, I read the daily email devotional from my church with this scripture: Ephesians 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Hmmm, looks like God is trying to send me a message today….! I hope I am strong enough to act upon it!
Lisa Johnson - beautiful
Big D & Me - Last night I was on an airplane returning home when I shouted, “I know her!” My husband thought I was a little crazy but I showed him the picture of in the magazine and he said, “Oh that’s that blog you read.” I loved seeing you and your daughter in the magazine, fixing her “piggytails.” Can’t wait to see the same photo with your other daughter.
julia @ life on churchill - this is beautiful. and so timely as a mom who sweeps up cereal from the floor at least 2x a day!
kate b - thanks for this reminder this am, i needed it!
Heather - Thanks for the poignant reminder that applies to each of us. I’ll admit that I usually see the dirty dishes. God has been working on my heart in this area, and your share is totally a blessing. Thank you.
Erin Bichara - Ashley, I come to this blog every morning for this very reason. This post says it all. Please continue to inspire me to inspire myself & others!
Abigail C - Good reminder.
Lisa M. - Thank you, Ashley, for this post. I feel like I need to copy this verbatim and hang it in front of me to be able to read on a daily basis. So often I read things like this and have an “aha” moment and then I close the blog down and life happens (and it’s so stinkin’ busy), making me forget what I just read. I am definitely going to jot this down and look at it daily. Thank you.
Kate R - My littlest cut her own hair recently leaving a trail of hair from the bathroom to her bedroom and denied everything despite the evidence, we couldn’t help but notice her 17 inch haircut and new bangs. Hope your’s wasn’t that bad? and love the Princess Leia pancake plate idea!
Amanda - I have tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat because I’ve not been an extremely happy or thankful place. Kids bickering, messes everywhere, dishes piled high.
Thank you for the reminder to ‘be a part of’ not just ‘the warden’ of my life with children!
Nicole - i might need to print this one to pull me out of the funk i am in. thank you!!!!
Heidi - lovely LOVED this post all the way down to my toes!
definitely keeping this gem tucked in a special place to return to.
thanks. <3
~H
Caroline - You are wonderful! A true inspiration!!
Lisa - Wow, I adored this post, just BEAUTIFUL. <3 And the photography is so GOOD as always.
The simple things are the best things. This post was a blessing.
Lisa - Also! I have a $50 fresh giveaway right now on my blog if you want to put your name in for the win!
http://www.mooreminutes.com/2012/05/50-fresh-flower-giveaway-from-better.html
Flossie - What great words! I didn’t feel well this weekend. By Sunday, I was internally grumbling to myself, “If I’m going to feel like this for the next 9 weeks until my due date, we’re in trouble.” I let me son watch WAY too much TV. I slept later than I wanted to and missed the opportunity to do laundry without my little assistant. And that is what I saw. Today I’m looking back and seeing a healthy pregnancy, a little boy who will actually slow down to snuggle with his momma on the couch and watch an episode of Mickey Mouse, a husband who will help with the laundry when I don’t get it done. Thanks for the perspective shift.
Browneyedgirlygirl - Lovely, just lovely. The pancake “hair” and “ears” was my favorite picture, UNTIL I saw Firecracker holding her newly cut hair. Reminds me of my older sister when she was 3…she brought my Mom her newly cut hair…my Mom ask her why she did it…”it was in my eyes”.
Pam K - This was just in the message on Sunday. I am reminded again that I should speak positive and not negative, especially about myself, because my sons are watching me.
Steph - Amazing how God can speak to us through others. I cried myself to sleep last night just thinking about the lack of joy in my own heart lately and how I can see it being reflected in my kids’ attitudes. I felt like such a failure, but reading this I feel encouraged. God gives us grace, second chances. TODAY I can choose to seek God for the patience, strength and joy that I need rather than trying to do this on my own. TODAY I can choose to have a joy filled heart, to see the good first and react with a heart filled with love not frustration and exhaustion. Thank you for your blog and how you so beautifully remind me to enjoy my children and my role as a stay at home mom… because I do, just sometimes I forget!
Honeybee Mama - good words, sister! makes my heart sink a little wishing i could take back so many overly harsh reprimands to my children, but instead of feeling guilty i’ll say a little prayer and ask jesus to make me more like him! happy monday!
giozi - These pancake in these plates are really adorables, but the most adorables is your boy with that beautiul smile.
Danielle - This post made me smile. Especially of the one of most of the kids standing in their chairs around the table. I’m glad my kids aren’t the only ones who have a hard time sitting down to eat.
Lindsey - What a great message for me to think about today! THANK YOU!
Amy at Fig Milkshakes - Okay, I tried it. I see my little girl tooting an a vintage kazoo…pink corduroy pants with a heart shaped pocket…a pencil holder made from a soup can, construction paper, and animal stickers…and a half assembled Millenium Falcon kite. Hey, it works! Bless you!
Bethany - Such encouraging and sweet words, thank you! I never noticed that poster size photo with ( Firecracker?) in the cowboy boots. LOVE!!!
Suzanne - What a lovely reminder! I usually think of that in terms of words too. Wow. Thank you Ashley!!
Kristy - Thank you so much for this wonderful post, it’s just what I needed to read today!
Charity G. - Thank you for this post. So often I find myself in situations where I think, as I’m saying/doing/reacting, that I should focus more on the good or I should be handling it differently, but in that moment I’m already in the wrong mindset. It’s sometimes hard with little ones, and I really appreciate this reminder that where our hearts our is reflected in every aspect and not just one.
nancy - I want to document my family’s life more like this. More realness. More of the details and the little things.
and definitely more light in my kitchen!)
thank you for the continued inspiration… as always.
nancy-of the crazy 9
Katherine Marie - This post makes me feel pure happiness! So so beautiful! Pancakes for dinner is ne of my favorite things!!!
Amanda Torres - The haircut! Oh man. We have yet to have that happen. So sweet that she wanted to show you instead of hide it. I love your heart. Great example to all of us.
Steph - Oh, your daughter always cracks me up! Too cute. Thank you for this post. Good things to be thinking about.
devon - oh how i love you! oh how i needed this!
i truly feel the same way. too often i focus on ‘what needs to be done’ and not ‘whats currently happening’. i have 3 beautiful children that i try my best to enjoy but sometimes life gets in the way and its hard to just slow down.
thank you for your posts. you are truly a joy to my heart.
god bless.
Aubrey - I’ve been told that the eyes are the lamp of our body and if our eyes are good then our whole body would be filled with light. But if our eyes are bad, our whole body will be filled with darkness.
Our eyes linking us to our perspective. I can choose to see things and people with a generous eye or a stingy eye. This revelation changed my life. Simply by changing my perspective light shines through. I’m so thankful for truth.
Tiffany - Oh, how I needed this! Thank you for sharing these words. We have had a rough start to our week and I just can’t seem to “get into it”, constantly thinking about how I need a break, etc. but that is never how I want to be.
Elizabeth - such truth!! i know i need HIS perspective…HIS eyes to see the beauty *all* around. even in the mess.
thanks for sharing!
michelle - You know, every time we have pancakes I think of your volcano post. I can’t, repeat CAN’T eat them any other way now. There is magic in the soppy butter circle with syrup soaking into the sides and spilling over the top. I save the butter soaked circle cut out for last…it’s the best!
Hope you are having an amazing week
Heidi - Great post! It’s so easy for me to look at the negative, thanks for the reminder that there is just as much positive out there if we only open our eyes to it.