the day after

Having busied myself in the kitchen most of yesterday, only occasionally promoting a random child into a sous chef, the meaning of the Day flickered into mental lamp light. The healthy, beautiful faces of the most precious souls on earth to me, ringed around a simple table heaped with way too much became for me a snapshot of the Abundant Life from the One who loves us extravagantly and perfectly. The food, decorations, and company were uncomplicated, familiar--and, well--just perfect. There was nowhere else I would have rather been than inside the song that played for just a time in our little home, the strains of which maybe only I could hear and savor.
There were a hundred little moments when I would just look at one of these faces, drink it in, will the image to be burned into some photographic plate, and then with open hands, let it go and be whatever it would be. I refused to take notes, choosing only to marinate in the forthcoming, free flow of blessing all around me. I know this is a window of grace and abundance and a special kind of perfect, and with a fullness I have not had in so very long, I can offer it back--and remain full. XO