\t\t\t\t\tOverview:<\/p>\n
Shewanda Riley, a Dallas-based author and English professor, shares her personal experience of a skin condition that taught her the importance of paying attention to even the smallest details. She notes that God is concerned about even the smallest details, and we should be too. Riley emphasizes the need to stay focused on details in all aspects of life, including work, personal life, and spiritual life.<\/p>\n
\u00a0A few years ago, I struggled with a bothersome skin condition that forced me to stop wearing all makeup for nearly 4 months. It wasn\u2019t a life-or-death situation (even though I thought I was going to die when I had stitches on my face for 1 week), but it did worry me.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t know what caused the condition, and the doctors were unsure about how to treat it. I recall seeing small, odd-looking bumps on my right cheek in mid-January. However, I didn\u2019t do anything about them until a few months later, when they\u2019d grown larger and spread to a wider area. All I can think now is how much money I could have saved on medical bills and prescriptions had I done something earlier.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Eventually, it cleared up, and I began to get more compliments about my skin \u201cglowing\u201d since I\u2019d stopped wearing makeup. Just like I\u2019m not sure where it came from, I\u2019m not sure how it went away\u2026I\u2019m just glad that it cleared up. This ordeal taught me it\u2019s not enough to notice the details, but you also have to know what to do with them.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
One important thing I learned during this time was to pay attention to even the smallest details. Every morning and multiple times throughout the day, I found myself looking in the mirror at my right cheek to see if the inflammation had supernaturally disappeared. Whenever I saw the smallest bump or blemish, I immediately applied the prescribed creams and prayed fervently that God would completely restore my face. God answered my prayers!\u00a0 Years later, I still find myself paying particular attention to the slightest changes in my face. This includes counting some new wrinkles and my puffy eyes I wake up with more often, I\u2019d like to count.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Matthew 10:29-31 shows that God is concerned about even the smallest details, and we should be too: \u201cAre not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.\u00a0 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don\u2019t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.\u201d<\/p>\n
Being an English professor and journalist (two professions that focus on the importance of details in writing and storytelling, respectively), I think I\u2019m more inclined to notice even the smallest details. However, I have to work hard to stay focused and pay attention to details (big and small) because of distractions like work, my personal life, and my spiritual life. As much as I hate to admit it, with so many things to distract me, it\u2019s easy to miss details. I have to remember that even when I may miss details, God is always focused on the smallest details.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll be sharing more about what I\u2019ve learned recently about paying attention to the smallest details in upcoming columns.<\/p>\n
Shewanda Riley is a Dallas-based author of \u201cLove Hangover: Moving from Pain to Purpose After a Relationship Ends\u201d and \u201cWriting to the Beat of God\u2019s Heart: A Book of Prayers for Writers.\u201d \u00a0 Email her at preservedbypurpose@gmail.com or follow her on Instagram @shewandawrites.<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Overview: Shewanda Riley, a Dallas-based author and English professor, shares her personal experience of a skin condition that…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":65265,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,8021,8022,8023,1596,8024,46438,17827,46439,46440,46441,46442,46443,46444,46445,44409,358,46446,46447,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,46448],"class_list":{"0":"post-65264","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-black-media","10":"tag-black-news","11":"tag-black-press","12":"tag-dallas","13":"tag-dallas-weekly","14":"tag-details","15":"tag-face","16":"tag-makeup","17":"tag-matthew-1029","18":"tag-matthew-1029-31","19":"tag-medical-bills","20":"tag-prescription-creams","21":"tag-puffy-eyes","22":"tag-shewanda-riley","23":"tag-skin-condition","24":"tag-texas","25":"tag-the-doctors","26":"tag-this-week","27":"tag-tx","28":"tag-united-states","29":"tag-united-states-of-america","30":"tag-unitedstates","31":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","32":"tag-us","33":"tag-usa","34":"tag-wrinkles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114852448472653546","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65264\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}