Wonder {Five Minute Friday}

5 minutes. Unedited. Topic: Wonder.

GO.

Sometimes my breath catches when I think of the moments of awe I’ve had, and I wonder if I’ll ever have them again.

I wonder if I’ll ever feel that wonder again.

As a girl, when I looked at the world through innocent eyes, I felt it. That sense of awe. That hope. That soaring feeling of a life not yet lived, waiting to begin. All things new. It was just out of reach – everything I’d ever dreamed of. Hoped for. Prayed for.

And now I don’t know how many more moments like that I’ll have. Life has become more real, and with its blessings, more beautiful in many ways. But also more real. It can be scary, cold, indifferent, difficult…

It can change without a moment’s notice and leave us broken and battered in its midst. And yet that wonder still exists. It’s still out there for those who want it, a desire left untouched until the world opens up and gives it to us all over again.

God graces me with His love. Pours it out with all the mighty strength he holds, and yet my sense of wonder is not the same. I long to be that girl again, wishing for a life well lived, not knowing what lies beyond the horizon, and being okay with that.

STOP.

I'm not good at getting my jumbled thoughts out in just five minutes, especially because I feel like I could go on forever on this topic. I love wonder. It's probably one of my favorite things, and it just doesn't seem to happen as often or with as much intensity as it used to.

But another one of my favorite things is this cutie:

And today is his first birthday! I just wanted to give him a shout out, since he's one of the things that still fills me with wonder. Happy birthday, my sweet little Abram boy!

Focus {Five-Minute Friday}

I'm glad I discovered Five-Minute Friday. It's great practice to write solidly for five minutes without editing. I have a free thought journal (separate from my regular journal) that I write stream-of-consciousness in, and sometimes the stuff that comes flowing out astounds me.

Sometimes it's stuff I wouldn't normally share publicly. Consciousness gets crazy. ;)

Anyway, here's my first five-minute post. This week's topic is Focus.

GO

I look through the lens and press down the shutter button halfway until I hear that beautiful beep.

I love when I get the stuff in focus. I love that sound that tells me the picture is clear. I push the button down all the way and hear that satisfying click.

Sometimes the pictures are fuzzy. Sometimes they’re clear, sharp, lovely.

I wish my life was always in focus the way I wish those pictures were. I wish I could push a button and make everything like crystal, sparkling with a beautiful light.

I don’t always know what to put in focus. Sometimes I choose the wrong subject, sometimes I wonder if I should have taken a step to the right. If only I’d taken a second to recompose…

Photography is an art we have to learn. Life is an art we have to live. It’s hard to know when to shift our focus, when to put other things in the foreground, what to put in the background…

I’ll never take perfect pictures. But I’ll take a few great ones.

Along the way, I’ll get some amazing shots.

 
STOP.