It's BAAAACCKK

Some things come back into your life after a long period of being absent and it's usually fine.  Like old friends or when you find something you misplaced years ago at the bottom of your closet when you're doing your 10 year cleanup (notice I said 10 year??...yep, I'm not a fan of cleaning out the closet).  But why, oh why, do dreaded cysts have to come back on you after a few years of being gone and get all infected and painful?
So I have a lovely cyst on my neck.  I'm not going to post a picture.  No one wants to see it.  I don't want to see it.  But it's there.  And it's annoying.  And I had to go to the doctor for it and now I have to see a general surgeon to remove it.  There's been a few days here recently that I just wanted to cry into my pillow and feel sorry for myself.
However, this is not an option for me right now.  I can't tell you how many cases I've heard here recently of young people diagnosed with cancer or given the prognosis of only a few weeks to live.  There is so much more devastation and sadness out there and my situation could be so much worse.  I keep trying to tell myself this everyday.  Life is short anyway.  And we aren't promised tomorrow.  Why aren't we living right now...today...as if there will be no tomorrow?  Why aren't we taking advantage of the minutes and the hours we have and doing positive things....for God, for our families, for our friends, for ourselves?  If we added up the hours in a day and broke it down into what we are spending them doing, how many hours are for positive things?  Yes, we all have to work, and go to school and have financial obligations, but what about our "free time".  How do we spend it?  I know I don't want to spend hours feeling sorry for myself that I have an ugly infection on my neck.  I want to do something that will inspire good in others.  I want to live a positive life.  So when I'm reminded of the things I'm doing right now, down the road in the future, I can be happy and not sad about it.

Invasion of the Body Bubble

How do you feel about personal space?  The bubble that has always surrounded me, yes I said bubble and by that I mean that protective barrier that has sheltered me from unwanted hugs, unwanted in-your-face conversations and unwanted body odor, has not really done its job over the years and, in fact, is almost non existent anymore.  Actually, instead of protection, its actually subjected me to more of this.  It's like people know I have a reluctance to that much closeness.  But if I really stop and think about it, is it really the bubble that has disappeared, or my yearning for a more closeness to people that has appeared.

God made a woman for Adam.  He did not want him to be alone.  He made it so we are born into families so we don't have to be subjected to the harshness of this world as a newborn baby on our own.  He wants us to be a part of His community so that we will want to do His will and preach, teach and meet needs.  God doesn't want us to live our lives all trapped inside a perfect little bubble isolated from others.  The fact that He has equipped us with so many different talents and abilities should tell us that we all have a role to play in the bigger picture of life.

Now that I'm older and I actually enjoy giving and receiving hugs, I realize how suffocating the idea of living inside a bubble really is.  And where there is suffocation, there is death.  I don't plan to spend the rest of my days feeling trapped and unable to breathe.  I plan on living.  God blessed me with a life.  I plan on using it.

Really, really close up

So tonight, in our small group Bible study, in small town Ashville, in the small little fellowship hall of our church, I was convicted to DO SOMETHING!  To do ANYTHING!  Ok, so it's no secret I've had many blogs.  I start them, I blog for like a year or two, then the fascination fades.  I am not necessarily a writer, although I enjoy writing.  But I am surprised at the thoughts and the ideas that come to me when I'm writing.  It's like a teeny, tiny version of Ralph Waldo Emerson starts coming out of me and the creative juices start flowing!
And by now I know you're asking, what's with "The BIG Picture in Macro Focus."  That's a weird title for a blog Miranda.  Well, allow me to try to explain this part of my creative juices.  In photography, macro is a type of focus that means to get really, really close up and personal with your subject matter.  So, this is simply going to be a blog where I dig into the BIG picture of this life, my life, your life and I get really, really close up and personal with what I'm looking at.  I might blog about my day.  I might blog about the church.  I might blog about photography.  I might even blog about this yummy Cinnamon Chex cereal I'm snacking on as I type.
My purpose is simple.  I'm just doing something that gets me thinking.  If the wheels are constantly turning I might as well be writing about them.  So, go on this journey with me.  Let's discover the big picture together!