It’s In The Eyes

When I was young, I went Trick or Treating with my friends.
I never wore anything scary or ghoulish.
I was Raggedy Ann once.
I was a princess another time.

When we would knock on the door or ring the doorbell, people would answer.
A bowl of candy was in their hand.
Most of the people would try to guess who was standing before them.
They guessed me every time.

I remember the cloth Raggedy Ann mask that went over my entire face.
When I was recognized house after house, I had to find out why.
I finally asked one of my neighbors: How did you know it was me?
It’s your eyes; they give you away, the neighbor said.

I remember looking in the mirror later that night.
Two hazel-y brown eyes stared back at me.
I could not imagine how those two eyes could be recognized over and over.
I never understood it until much later in life.

When my children were sick with a stomach virus or fever, I knew it right away.
I remember the sick child asking me how I knew.
I told them: You don’t have dancing eyes.
They would smile and giggle a bit when they thought about their eyes dancing.

That is how I knew.
It is always in the eyes.
It is said that the eyes are the window to the soul.
There is so much to see when you look into someone’s eyes.

That is why a child will not look you in the eyes when they do something wrong.
They know they misbehaved.
They know that if they look you in the eye, you will know it, too.
Their eyes will give them away.

Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings. (Psalm 17:8)

We hear the expression, the apple of your eye.
Have we ever thought about what it means?
The apple of your eye is your pupil.
We all know what it is like to get poked in the eye.

We close our eyes quickly so we can protect it.
The poke is painful.
Our eyes will tear.
The pain we feel in our eye is real.

When my younger son was in Sunday school many years ago, papers were being handed out.
As the papers were being handed from one child to the next, my son turned his head.
Just like that, a paper went across his eye.
He literally had a paper cut across his eye.

His eye was so red and puffy.
We went to the eye doctor.
He had to keep his eye closed and rest it; he had to keep warm compresses on it.
He was little, but he was so very brave.

One of my daughters was sledding on a winter day.
She was having so much fun going down a little hill.
As she was sledding, she tried to duck underneath a branch that came out of nowhere.
The twig poked her in the eye.

Her eye was terribly red and puffy.
She was more upset about a Christmas party at school that she did not want to miss.
After a visit to the eye doctor, her eye was fine but would be light sensitive for a while.
He gave her special sunglasses to wear even at school, so she could still go to the party.

Eye injuries hurt.
God protects us, His children, as we protect our eyes.
We are the apple of God’s eye.
Imagine how we protect our sensitive pupils and you can imagine how God protects us.

The eyes tell so much.
When someone stares into our eyes for a long time, we either love it or we look away.
It depends on what we want them to see.
We may try to hide our feelings, but they are quite obvious when our eyes are searched.

I was known by my eyes, even when I wore a mask.
I can see my eyes or my husband’s eyes in our children.
The Light of Christ can be seen in a person’s eyes.
Joy and peace are present there.

Being adopted, I do not know whose eyes I inherited.
I do know whose eyes I want to resemble.
I want to have my Father’s eyes.
I want people to see Him when they look into my eyes.

I really do.