Confession #1: After two weeks of trying really hard to downplay in my own mind the effects that reaction had on me, I have to finally admit to myself that I am full out sick. And my slow life here in the condo has ground to a bit of a halt.
Confession #2: Sometimes really amazing things happen when my life grinds to a halt.
Shannon texted this morning to check on me, and it took about all my energy just to type back. I told her I hadn't written ahead for the blog and wanted to be able to post something for Wednesday. I asked if she had anything to say.
She said she'd tell you all about Christmas from her perspective, if I wanted.
I said YES! PLEASE! THANK YOU!
Then I read it and was so incredibly glad I was too tired today. Because she managed to put words together that perfectly describe our friendship [which I am renaming familyship, because it really is more fitting] and her lovely heart. And I get to share them with you. And you all get to see for yourself why I am so blessed by her family.
It's almost worth being sick. :)
Sparkle.
Such a simple word; it brings to mind images of stars in the night sky, engagement rings, and bright, wonder-filled eyes.
Sparkle.
I’m taking liberties and off the cuff calling it a scientific phenomenon that was witnessed and documented copiously with digital images.
Sparkle.
It is what five humans are capable of doing when put together in a cozy condo for four glorious days.
We did all of the “usual” stuff...trips to Sonic for Happy Hour, a stop at Hy-Vee for soup and crackers, movies on the bed, filling the dishwasher, doing laundry, loving all over the white pooch, writing with a calligraphy set, and working on our creative flair with stencils and colored pencils. We opened gifts, sang, laugh, cried, and prayed. There was even fingernail painting and the two oldest in the house I won’t mention who is really the oldest and who’s the runner up managed to put on makeup every single day in case the camera came out of nowhere. I think we both secretly hoped it would.
The ultimate goal was to capture the moment and freeze it in both perfect stillness and absolute motion so our eyes could witness later what our hearts were holding now. I wasn’t sure it would be possible, but between the two of us Canon toting shutterbugs (with Jay thrown in for good measure) I figured we’d get a few shots. Golden memories that my camera shy sidekick would allow me to print and display.
Between the two of us, hundreds of images were amassed. Some were off center, others blurry because I’m still working on shutter speed and aperture and all of those other big fancy camera words that make photos pop. Sara’s, of course, were the bee’s knees. As I was going through the pictures on the camera and transferring them to external storage, I had a nagging feeling that there was something weirdly similar in all of the shots. I was tired, it was late, and I decided I’d go back and figure it out later when the kids didn’t need my help with piano and I wasn’t making dinner and correcting math and grammar homework and preparing Jay’s lunch and setting up the teaching schedule for the next day and folding the laundry and yelling at the dog to STOP BARKING NOW.
In complete honesty, it’s a miracle I went back to these photographs so quickly. I’m the girl who meticulously documented my first girl’s days, complete with date, time and location. Even if I didn’t scrapbook them, they were organized and booked.
Then came Little Bit, and it all went out the window. It will be a miracle if it ever gets done, but that’s a post for another day.
Hence, back to the photos, and the similarity. At first glance as I paged through snapshots, the rational part of me was looking for the parallels. I noticed clothing, lighting, and location. That wasn’t it. Then, it hit me.
We SPARKLED.
Not in a new engagement ring sort of way, but in a full of love and joy and completely and utterly surprised in every moment by God’s wondrous grace sort of way.
I’ve decided that it’s the way friends look when they’re crazy comfortable with each other. How babes appear when basking in the love of adults who simply adore them. How a married couple seems when nothing in their life is ordinary and they seek to view every single day as gift.
Sparkle.
It’s what we did for the hours we spent together, sharing moments. I didn’t realize it then, but it’s what the camera captured in every shot. It was the moment, frozen in both perfect stillness and absolute motion. Forever paused, my eyes are able to look at what my heart captured.
Guess what...just thinking about it?
I’m sparkling.
:: Shan just started blogging recently... you can check her out at ::
soaringandstillness.blogspot.com