Tuesdays with Lacey

Charlie has started getting interested in photography again. I call this an answer to prayer. My husband is so creative, so talented, and so enthusiastic about the things his heart loves, and I am excited to see what comes of it.

A good date night tonight made me want to learn the art of Italian cooking, or French...the finer things in life. I have realized lately that somewhere along the way I decided that if something wasn't functional it was irrelevant to my life. Which meant everything pleasurable, fun, those gifts of God simply meant to be enjoyed, became either extinct in my life, or got categorized as chores.

This is, yes, as depressing as it sounds.

However, the repentance for this is just a barrel of monkeys! Seriously. What does repentance look like for making everything into a chore? Enjoying each task. Singing through it. Relaxing sometimes. Resting. Sipping a homemade pumpkin spice latte and spending time with Jesus. Um, awesome. What does repentance look like for ridding my life of the frivolous and only pursuing the "functional"? Doing things just for the (heaven) of it. Reading a book for its own sake, not as a means to an end. Researching not just the most efficient recipes, but the most decadent ones too. Savoring a piece of chocolate. Sitting. Just sitting.

God made things into gifts. I can bless my family by allowing joy a place in our home. So for date night I bought an expensive bottle of wine ($10 instead of our normal $3 or $4). I didn't force my husband to talk about serious things. I intentionally avoided the subjects of budgeting and scheduling which drive him crazy (in the bad way) on date night. We went to a movie. Didn't discuss anything deep the whole time. Normally I would see that as a waste of time. Tonight, it was fun. Enjoying it together was an end in itself.

Charlie says he thinks his style of photography has changed. I asked how. He said he would like to take pictures of normal scenes. Not close-ups of objects that are just meant to impress, or abstract lights and shapes. He pointed to our living room. Piano against the wall, booger sucker and toys on the ground, stools and chairs pulled away from the table. Lived in. Loved. Home. And I think both of us have changed in the same way these past few years. We are learning to appreciate the normal. We don't need to be thrilled or excited all the time. Sometimes it's nice. But not always. We don't have to go somewhere exotic or do crazy things to get the good photos, the best memories. Our cherished place is here.

I don't mean to sound like a Hallmark card, but I've realized recently that this is the stuff life is made of. I keep waiting for my chores to end so that I can relax and enjoy life, but I've been deceived - I've made everything into a chore, and so they will never be done. I need to enjoy the living room even in its comfy mess, I can appreciate the process of making a meal instead of rushing to be done so I can get to the dishes, and then the tidying, and then bed, and then...I can live right now. In this photo. In this memory. Because they're all I've got.

This post is starting to read like Tuesdays with Morrie. It's time for bed, which as I'm also realizing, is not an obstacle to my productivity but truly one of life's great pleasures.