Picture Perfect

I love sending pictures with my Christmas cards. For some of my family, it's the only time they "see" my children! It never fails. Each year, beginning at Thanksgiving, we attempt to get the "perfect family picture" for the annual send out. Before the days of digital...it was a bit more frustrating.

One year stands out in my mind. My children were 1 and 2. Our film camera had a great timer (or so we thought at the time). With the piano bench perfectly placed in front of the perfectly decorated Christmas tree...we "cheesed" through a roll of film. "One hour" later we realized that although my husband and I looked exactly the same in all 24 takes, our two children took turns smiling. Another whole roll of imbalance later, I was fed up. It was time to take matters into my own hands.

Clip. Paste. Scan. Print. Just like that our family was "perfect". Thanks to a minor edit and old fashioned "cut and splice", both children were smiling perfectly while perfectly seated in front of our perfectly decorated tree.

We do that in our ordinary, everyday lives, don't we? Instead of just being real with one another, we edit ourselves and situations to appear perfect. AND we do it in our marriages! It's time to "Get Real".

Florence Baptist Church in Forest City, NC will be hosting a "Let's Get Real" Marriage Enrichment Conference on March 20-21 with Dale & Jena Forehand. The Forehand's have been featured speakers at LifeWay's Festival of Marriage and the 700 Club, among many others.

If you're within driving distance, consider coming. It's only $40 a couple...and that includes lunch on Saturday! For more information: www.daleandjena.com or www.florencechurch.net