her eyes

You forget lots of things once you move out of the baby stage. The constant state of tired, the amount of diapers you go through, the constant bouncing, walking, patting that you do as a parent. I am in full-on baby stage right now so there is no forgetting for me yet.
One thing I had forgotten about, or maybe I am just appreciating this more this time around, is the almost constant eye contact between mama and baby. This tiny creature who cannot tell me what she wants or what she needs through her words. We spend all day trying to catch her eye, to make her smile. To connect with her through her eyes. You hear people talk about this when visiting other countries. Two people may not speak the same language, but someone how they communicate through facial expressions and most especially through eye contact.

Molly James and I spend much time with our eyes locked on each other. During diaper changes, nursing sessions, cuddle time. We just simply look at each other. Of course, I whisper to her constantly and she is beginning to make sounds back to us (in fact, she can get pretty vocal these days) But I love how we still communicate through our eyes at this stage.

We have been hunkered down today at home. The heat is a bit much for us all. We enjoyed grilled cheeses for lunch and now its Chamber of Secrets time. I am a bit sad at this whole Chickfila business. It seems that ugliness is coming from both sides of what has become a huge issue. I read this blog http://jenhatmaker.com/blog.htm recently and I am encouraged that others also feel the same way. She of course, says it much better than I ever could.

What I wish is that Christians had been spurred to as much action in other areas as they (some of them, not all) seem to be today. Perhaps manning and stocking food banks, volunteering at local nursing homes and low income daycares, picking up trash, reading to their kids, writing a real letter to a friend. My friend Ellis recently did this. Celebrated a family member's birthday by random acts of kindness. I am going this evening to hear from another friend who spent her own money and time off from work to spend a month in Romania working with orphans. Shouldn't that be what we celebrate? What inspires us to get up and get moving for Christ? It is not us versus them. It is not Christians versus the rest of the world. Seems as though we are drawing lines in the sand, and we all know what happens to anything written in sand. It's temporary. Things written in sand DON'T LAST. 

My kids are happy. And that is what I want. For them to be happy as kids and later as adults. Whatever else comes and whatever else they choose, I want them to be happy. I want them to love other people. I want them to choose to look into the eyes of other people and connect with them. Not in a spirit of right versus wrong. But rather in a way that helps them find kindred spirits among us, from all walks of life.

I do not pretend to be a political expert and I don't pretend to be perfect or to have any of the "right" answers. And I hope today's movement will spur conversation instead of name calling and Bible verses typed out in anger. I don't know. I do know people are hurting. From loneliness, a scary diagnosis, a job loss....and that we need each other to help us shoulder our burdens.

If we do choose to eat somewhere or not eat somewhere, maybe we could follow that decision up with a commitment to reach out to someone. To invite them across the lines we have drawn in the sand and to look into their eyes.