It Was There All Along: Learning to See Differently

Have you ever searched everywhere for something, only to discover it had been right in front of you all along? That’s exactly what happened when I “lost” my son’s college diploma. I remembered bringing it in from the mailbox. I remembered thinking, I need to put this somewhere safe. But after that? Nothing.

I searched everywhere. My family helped me search. I retraced my steps. I even asked St. Anthony for his intercession. The problem wasn’t that the diploma was gone. The problem was that I had convinced myself I knew what I was looking for. I pictured a large, flat cardboard envelope. In reality, the diploma had arrived in a cardboard tube—and it had been sitting safely in my dining room all along. I was looking right past it because it didn’t look the way I expected it to look.

And isn't that something we do in life, too?

We decide what an answered prayer should look like. We decide what needs to happen before we can have peace or joy. We decide who another person is the difficult coworker, the frustrating family member, the stubborn spouse and then we begin noticing everything that confirms what we've already decided about them.

And sometimes we even do it to ourselves.

I'm not enough. I'm too much. I'm a failure. I'm damaged. I've missed my chance.

But what if we're looking through the wrong lens?

In this episode, I'm sharing what one lost diploma taught me about allowing God to change the way we see our circumstances, our relationships, ourselves and even Him.

We'll talk about:

• Why our expectations can keep us from recognizing what God is already doing
• How we can become so focused on someone's faults that we stop seeing their goodness
• The difference between healthy discernment and reducing someone to their worst moments
• How our wounds can shape the way we see other people
• The labels we place on ourselves that God never gave us
• Why peace and joy may not require our circumstances to change
• What the disciples on the road to Emmaus and Mary Magdalene can teach us about recognizing Jesus when He doesn't appear the way we expected

Maybe finding what you're searching for doesn't require searching harder. Maybe it requires seeing differently.

So as you listen, I invite you to bring one question to prayer:

Holy Spirit, where are You asking me to see differently?

Maybe it's a person.

Maybe it's a prayer.

Maybe it's your circumstances.

Maybe it's yourself.

Or maybe you've been searching everywhere for peace, joy, hope, purpose, or rest—only to discover that what your heart really needs has been right in front of you all along.

Jennie Guinn is a Catholic life coach and founder of Catholic Moms in the Middle. She accompanies midlife women through betrayal, separation, divorce and major life transitions by helping them encounter God’s healing and rediscover their purpose.