I keep coming back to this picture. Its on my phone. I scroll through photos and I stop and look at it. It’s my two boys. I wish I could remember where it was taken. The when is fuzzy, but their size gives me a rough estimate. It’s grainy. I scanned it from an old photograph. There are dust spots on it that I try to edit out, but there are lots of them.
I love the golden light at the center. First, in the shirts. Then in their hair. I love the way the path trails off to the left disappearing into a point. I love Logan’s hand (on the left) reach over toward Lance. I wonder what Lance has in his hands. Was it a stick, a rock, a feather? The memory is always right on the edge. I can’t seem to recall if I remember the moment or just this picture. I know it was my eye that was looking through the camera. I framed the shot and captured it for a reason.
I have lots of shots of them growing up. My favorites tend to show them in the midst of joy. I love the look of smiles. The twinkle in their eyes. The mischief before the threw the snowball. I love the ones showing exploration, but I love this one the most because it captures our hopes. That they have family by their side through life. They they don’t walk alone.
I have looked at this photo so often the last year (during COVID I decided to scan my old photos into the computer) since I rediscovered it in a box of old photos. My heart aches because I thought I was walking through life with some people, friends, who decided they didn’t want to walk with me anymore. Things have not worked out the way I saw it in my head. I thought we would get there together. I’m so thankful for people who are walking side by side with us, not because they agree with me, but because we love one another. Jesus says, “by this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another” John 13:34.
I know too many families torn by conflict and hurt. I know too many churches that have fallen prey to the same. John 1:12 says “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” We who are in Christ are one family-brothers and sisters. I’m praying God’s blessings on each of you. I’m praying that God would bring his family together and that we might go down the road together.