I'll Take That

     This picture snuck onto the Mac without me seeing it. That can happen when you have at least 5 different people loading pictures on your computer. It was taken in the early summer, before Mary Grace entered the world of braces. I saw it for the first time about a week ago when I was turning on my mom's ipad. It's her wall paper.
     It's now one of my favorites. And, once I saw it, I made a mental note: "use on your first parenting-oriented post."
     "Parent." How can the word that describes such a big job only have six letters? If I could give it a hashtag on twitter it would be   #youarenowcompletelyresponsibleforanotherlifeyoubetterdoagoodjobortheywillberuinedforever.
     Well, at least that's how I feel some of the time. Which brings me to the two poems that follow this introduction. For whatever reason, my mind jumped to writing these as I was looking at this picture. At first, I was only going to write one - the more serious one.  My bent is to seriousness and its words reflect what I feel at my core.  But the lighter one has also been true for us. Now, I don't remember the circumstances around taking this particular picture. I don't remember anybody being bent out of shape because I was taking it. But there have been picture-taking times when people have been unhappy about it and forced the smiles.
     So it is with parenting. Different days bring different "takes." They are all real - no denying that.  But they are all God given gifts, designed for his glory and our joy. I'll take that.

               Take One

I made them pose beside the door,

Could you believe it caused a war?

They smile so sweet and look at me,

But thoughts inside we do not see.

What’s really going through their mind

If written here, would not be kind.

They want to get this over soon

Their show’s on pause in the other room.

They humor me, they often do,

And I assure, “We’re almost through!”

The button clicks, they see a flash,

The smiles are gone and off they dash. 

                                                                                      Take Two

Can those fourteen eyes possible see

What they do to this heart in my chest?

It beats, it pounds, it swells, it breaks,

For those souls I love the best.

I study those faces and remember days

That I lived together with them.

The bond of blood, the bond of time,

May those memories never grow dim.

I've laughed, I've cried and felt such angst

Could our smiles fade to that black?

They do, they touch, but they don't stay.

Forgiveness and love bring them back.

God, thank you, thank you, my mouth stumbles to say

What is felt in the depth of my being.

Those lives are a gift given to me

I wouldn't believe, but for seeing.