Not Quite Picture Perfect

Sometimes all you want is for a day to go how you had planned it. This picture is from Easter, when we were trying to get one good family photo. As you can see, Kieran is always so hyped up after church.

We actually had a really good Easter. Mother's Day, however, did not go how I had planned. Saturday, I started letting Elias cry it out at nap times and when he wakes in the middle of the night (he had a really bad cold for awhile, so he had gotten used to being held or rocked to sleep). So, I've been a little tired and stressed. Sunday morning found me getting myself and two kids ready for church after we had all "slept in" because we were out late the night before and, you know, the whole crying-it-out thing--all this by myself because Jordan was sick. At family dinner, I dropped Kieran's whole plate of food onto the carpet and he decided that he wasn't hungry and wouldn't eat lunch.

Let's just say that the day went downhill from there.

Now, I'm not saying that the entire day was a bust because there were definitely some good moments. But it just wasn't the day I was hoping for. ...And what I am realizing is that picture perfect days are few and far between. 

And I need to let go of them.

Life never goes as planned, and that's the beauty of it, I think--to relax and let go and be in the moment instead of planning the moment. To accept that husbands will get sick, messes will be made, children will cry, and patience will be tested. But to know that, at the end of the day, when the beds in your home are full of the people you hold most dear, your heart will be overflowing with love for them and with gratitude for the grace and mercy God gives for each new day. So, you will pick up the toys and books and pray for your children. You will scrub the pots and pans and pray for your husband. You will remember that God has made you for this mess and for them and for all of these moments. 

Because that's what they are:  moments. In the blink of an eye, we will be planning graduations and weddings and the baby showers of our grandchildren. And so we should soak in every minute.

There will be moments of pure sweetness.

And there will be moments of not-so-sweetness.

There will be moments of silliness...

Kieran wearing a Bumbo on his head

...and moments of undeniable cuteness.

Eventually, we were able to get a decent photo of our family. It wasn't perfect. There weren't four smiling faces looking into the camera. No one is going to ask to put our family picture into their magazine. But it is our family. And we are living those days out moment by moment, learning to love and to make the most of the not-so-picture-perfect life we have.