A Rickety Old Bird House...or is it?

What words pop into your head as you stare at the following two images?

Here we some of the first words that others shared when viewing the pictures:

• Old
• Rickety
• Unsafe
• Broken
• Dangerous
• Rusty
• Unkempt
• Trash
• Eye-sore
• Uninhabitable
• In need of repair
• Worthless

All these words were generated from staring at the outside of the house, no one peeked in. If they had looked inside the house they would have found a cozy nest, two adult blue jays, and their four babies. A happy family in a happy home. What the outside of their home looked like didn't phase them in their choice of making a comfortable place on the inside. They didn't need landscapers or request a new roof. They didn't require a paint job or overflowing sun-loving plants in planters.

Life lessons from a rickety old bird house: It's the ages-old saying, "It's what's on the inside that counts." If we'd judged the birdhouse from the outside, it might appear "worthless" or "broken". From the inside, it's life-giving and inspiring. What do we look at in life like the birdhouse? Do we notice and critique the outside? Do we do this with ourselves? Or, do we take the extra step and peek inside, finding countless ways to see beautiful.