The sun was reflecting off of the lake as I sat in the shade on the beach. The little kids were playing happily in the water. We love going to this family vacation house deep in the Adirondack mountains. I have been going with my husband ever since we got married, he has been going since he was a baby. The rustic house with it’s bark siding and huge porch overlooking the water was built in 1922!
The house was full with grandparents and three cousins joining us. How fun that my kids have cousins their exact age! I never had that. Our family with it’s five teenagers is crazy all on its own. When you add three more to the mix, it turns into a non-stop party. We had such a good time.
On this particular day, as the weather was ideal in the 70s with NO humidity, the big kids decided to go out and sit on the party boat and play music. There wasn’t much in the area of cell service, so the kids had to resort to other forms of entertainment. At first they were a little crabby, but by this day they had discovered that not being fully connected wasn’t so bad. Something in the water caught the attention of the boys. When I looked up from the magazine I was reading I saw eight big teenage boy feet hanging off the bench as they hung over facing the water. The lighting was great and my first thought was, “Oh that is such a great picture”. Then I realized my phone was up in the house. I started to get up to get it, but then stopped. I could run up to get it, so that I could capture the moment. Or I could just stay, soak in the sun and capture the moment in my mind (and heart). I sat and I pondered. All of these young men will be all grown up very soon. What a sweet time with them all here, happy and healthy, enjoying cousin time together! Then I prayed, for their futures, for their hearts, for each one of them to always know God’s presence and seek His will in their lives. It was precious, I wish I had a picture to show you, but I also am glad I don’t.
Maybe I could have run up to the house and gotten my phone. Maybe I could have made it back to take the picture before they moved. Maybe I would have missed the opportunity. Maybe I would have not rested in the moment and missed the opportunity to pray. Maybe the picture would have gotten buried in my phone underneath the millions of other pictures that I never even get around to looking at.
That day, made me very aware of how often I toil to capture moments when I should be embracing the experiences God has for me.