The Story Behind the Picture

I snapped this picture (with my phone) when we were in the Magic Kingdom. Our kiddos were waiting fairly patiently to meet a character. I snapped the picture in the moment. I wasn't worried about messy hair, Xander having no shoes, Solomon always having his hands in his mouth, or even Julianne looking like she wasn't sure what was going on.

I wanted to remember that moment forever.

Unfortunately this hasn't always been the case. I have an eye for detail... and well that can be either a blessing or a curse. Unfortunately, I've let it be a curse in my life. I can't tell you how many times I've put my children through endless amounts of pictures to get things "just so." Every hair in place, outfits looking perfect and pristine. I had sucked the joy out of memory taking. I've deleted wayyyy more pictures than I've kept.

Thankfully, God knew this about me and has given me four children, 7 and under and made me realize that in my human-ness I can't make every single detail perfect anymore. Sometimes I have to just relax and roll with it. My life isn't a movie that I can reshoot things over and over and over and make them appear perfect every moment of the day.

So my Christmas cards had an imperfect picture tucked inside. And I continued the theme when we got to Disney. I took imperfect pictures. I let my girls wear their princess gowns two days in a row (after washing of course.. all my standards aren't gone! LOL) I put Xander's shoes (and socks!) in our bag since he obviously didn't want to wear them and thought it was more fun to randomly throw them down. I let my hair down and I loved every single moment of it.

THIS is who I want to be. I want to be the fun mom that goes with the flow. Not everything can be that way, but ALOT of the details of life don't matter in the grand scheme of things. And each day that I've purposefully chosen to not be that nitpicky woman I was has been more filled with joy, more fun and more memorable to me.

When I look at the picture of my Fab Four, I see a little boy that is so in love with his little brother, that we had to separate him so that Solomon wouldn't have his eyeballs poked out. I see a little girl that is thrilled for her big sister that we are standing in a two hour line to meet Repunzel. I see a big sister that was happy to entertain her siblings while we waited instead of whining. I see a baby that is so very loved by his older sibings and was just happy to be one of them as he contentedly chewed his fingers.

Sure Xander has the sunshade to the stroller under his bare feet. Sure Julianne has more hair that has fallen out of her pigtails than in her pigtails and isn't smiling. Sure Xander is oblivious that I'm trying to get his attention to take a picture.

This is my now. This is the family that God has planned for me. He knew I needed them. I needed to learn this lesson.

And I'm so glad I learned it now.. the future is going to be so much fun!

His,

~Steph