Picture Perfect

 

 

 

Picture Perfect

 

I often wonder why my very fancy Nikon camera cannot take better pictures of my children...and then finally I accept the blame, or worse, blame my children.  Kids just can't sit still...can they?  We are very fortunate to live in a time of digital photography and photo shop.  We can subtract pimples and pounds in a few points and clicks (well, some of us can...me, I can't seem to get all three kids in focus).  And I'm pretty sure because of this excessive editing, we seem to have come to expect that we, too, are expected to lead the picture perfect life that we see on magazine covers and Facebook.  I'm not innocent!  My extended family came to visit for Easter and I made lists of things to buy, clean, rearrange...EDIT!  I made all of my preparations for my Easter baskets, egg hunts, church outfits, dinner menus, all after a major overhaul of our home.  The funny thing is, I like our home...

 

Why is it that we spend so much time making our lives, homes, and facebook pages picture perfect for everyone else to see?  If it is good enough for me...my husband...MY KIDS, shouldn't it be good enough for everyone else?  Well, now, I say, "Yes!  Take me as I am!  Love me or leave me!".  But with just hours to spare before the arrival of my family- including my Aunt and Uncle that wrote the book on order and cleanliness being next to Godliness, I have to say...those were not my exact words.  Not. Even. Close.  And then, I really think about it...why am I making all of these preparations for our Easter company, but not one of them is preparing me for Easter!

 

"And God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son".  John 3:16.  Isn't that what is REALLY picture perfect?  Ugh!  Why do we get so far from the things that are really important...

And after all that, here I am, on the Wednesday after Easter, looking at the ONLY facebook worthy picture that I took...but the funny thing is, the whole weekend was Picture Perfect!  We celebrated with joy and laughter.  We ate, we drank, we watched our kids play...and I ask myself if it would have been any different had I not swept the garage.  Maybe, maybe not.  But I bet I won't remember what chores I didn't get to finish.  I will remember that Jay, Parker, and Andrew had a ball hiding and finding Easter eggs.  I will also remember that Evan loves for me to scratch his head, Parker loves having "folks come over", Jay hit a home run on Opening Day at his ball game, and Wills LOVED all of the action.  The guys could spend days reliving their golf game as the ladies reveal their purchases made during "retail therapy".  And all the while, we are living in a world where we do not have to be Picture Perfect.  Jesus took care of that for us...

 

Are we there yet?  No, but a bit closer, I think...