Picture Perfect

“What a beautiful family!” the photographer exclaimed as she snapped various poses of my family during a recent photo session.  She commented on how easy we were to photograph and how well we all got along.  She commented on how respectful our kids were and how much they seemed to love each other.

My initial thoughts were, “If she saw us at home, she might have a different opinion.” With a teenage daughter with one foot out the door, a son who is encountering his first bouts of puberty, and two working parents with tiring, aging minds and bodies, let’s just say emotions and relations have been somewhat strained around our house lately.

But as the photo session continued, something shifted.  Tensions and strife vanished, replaced by feelings of warmth and laughter.  By the time we left the studio, we were all in high spirits.  We went out for lunch together and continued to laugh and enjoy each other’s company.

On the way home from lunch, I saw a notification on my phone that the photographer had tagged me in something on Facebook.  What I expected to be a picture turned out to be a video.  She had taken some pictures of us doing some impromptu dancing, but we didn’t realize that she had videoed this also.  We all watched the video and laughed so hard that we were almost in tears.

What started out as simply having a family portrait taken for the first time in a few years turned out to be much more than that.  It became a special time of reconnecting for our family.  A time to laugh and have fun.  A time for the genuine love that we have for each other to emerge from beneath the stresses and grind of everyday life.

I will always look back on that day with fond memories and am thankful that we will have photos that capture the moment.  I can’t wait to receive the photos we selected to display at home.  And it’s not so that we’ll have some images hanging on the wall that give the pretense of a perfect happy family.  It’s because every time I see these pictures, I will be reminded of what we experienced that day.  The love, laughter, happiness, and joy of just being together and being ourselves.

And perhaps in moments when emotions are on edge and frustrations are mounting, we will be able to step back and look at those photos and see ourselves through the lens of the photographer.  Family.  Love.  Beautiful.

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” – 1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV)