Jennifer May for the New York Times

I love this photo, “The Morning Local” by Jennifer May, which appeared on June 18 in the New York Times in a piece titled, “The Unfortunate Location.”  When I read the piece, I felt a kinship with the featured owners, each of whom had knowingly purchased real estate with an obvious major flaw.  The owner of the historical house featured in May’s photo fell in love with the house, which she could not have afforderd without the freight discount.  The affection the owner expressed for her home seemed in harmony with, rather in spite of, its flaw.

Last year my husband and I purchased a very inexpensive 20-acre parcel in Nevada via the internet without seeing it first–so we don’t entirely fit the criteria for the Times article.  We did see photos of the property which represented it accurately, with the exception of one omitted view.

The commercial gravel pit on the frontage road side defines it from that angle and when we initially arrived to inspect the property, that’s all I could see.  Even when we walked to the back of the lot, and on subsequent visits, I ignored the fact that above the pit we have a panoramic view of the desert ringed by contiguous black mountain ranges.

I allowed a single flaw to define my response instead of having faith in God’s graciousness and omnipotent ability to provide the perfect property for us.  It leads me to wonder, where else in my life is my response to imperfections blinding me to the beauty to which God guides me?