This week we’re on family vacation!! 🙂  So, I’m sharing  an older Five Minute Friday post that never saw the light of day.  As such, it is not a true 5 minute friday because I never finished it (for more information on FMF, see the end of the post).  So, it has been editted. 🙂
Present is…
a campfire glowing on a warm summer evening,
lightning bugs captive in a glass jar,
faces sticky with marshmallow.
Present is choosing to look when my littlest son says, “Look, Mom! I caught budderfwy,”
and laughing when I see that it’s really another lightning bug.
But he’s so proud and his smile is so wide that I haven’t the heart to tell him differently.
 Instead I exclaim over its beauty and his bravery.
And I choose to be present by putting the camera away.
Present is sometimes peace, sometimes chaos, but always worthwhile.
Present is a gift, not the kind that you open, but one that you give with your time, your attention,
your eye-contact, your helping hands and your listening heart.
It’s laughing at seven-year-old jokes that don’t make sense  and listening to four-year-old speak you can’t understand.
 It’s helping the teenager find a missing item and looking at your husband when he comes in the door, even if you’re busy.
Present is patient. Â Present is loving. Present is giving.
Let’s choose to be present.
Jen 🙂
What reminds you to be present?
On Five Minute Fridays, we all write furiously for 5 minutes on a word-prompt given to us by Lisa-Jo Baker. Â Come join us!
Jedidja says
Thanks for this blog. It is very special for me. In our country there are no lightning bug ( vuurvliegjes). I love the pics.
Wise last words at the end of your blog.
stultsmamaof4 says
I’m glad you found meaning here.
Jen 🙂