The Quiet In-Between

Do you notice, or maybe it’s just me, that you hold your breath when smiling for a photo? We suck in a big inhale and freeze. It’s habit or pattern or maybe we are just trying to posture ourself in a way as women to look thinner or as men try to puff out their chest or broaden their shoulders or something of that sort. It’s just what we do as humans. And, yes, we capture some truly delightful photos while holding our breath. Yet some of my very favorite captures are the relaxed in-between moments. As we walk from one spot to the next. Guard down, we chat casually about life. We share stories. We breathe.
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Today in the in-between we still sit in the glow of the Christmas tree, still cozy in our Christmas PJs, the clatter of Christmas toys being thoroughly enjoyed, the Jesus Storybook Bible still open to page with a baby in a barn, a warm cup of coffee in my Santa mug in my hand, a jazzy instrumental version of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas plays softly in the background.
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We are holding on to the magic still. Or maybe finally truly seeing it for the first time this season.
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I’m wrapping up edits for this year before we head north for vacation for a spell celebrating Christmas with my husband’s family, the last batch of presents from under the tree in tow. There’s more magic to come.
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I used to dread the Christmas let down. All the building anticipation for the day comes to a halt on December 25 as your head hits the pillow. But these days I’m loving it. Because we decide when the halting stops. Because the quiet space gives us room. Room for pause, room for reflection, room for peace, room for pure & simple joy, room to exhale after the long holding of breath in the whirling pace of things, room for Him.
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We are holding on, gently, in the quiet in-between to each and every slow moment with room to breathe.
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And we just might stay in our Christmas PJs all day.

Merry Christmas! — The Fox Family — Highlands Hammock State Park, Sebring, FL

Wishing you and your family a blessed and joyful Christmas and new year!

🤍 The Fox Family - Devon, Caroline and Norah
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(Photo Number 1 is Norah’s pick for the Christmas card. And a big thank you to the lovely @reagancorinne.photos for capturing my family so beautifully!)
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“He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant. He grew up in another village, where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was 30. Then, for three years, he was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a home. He didn't go to college. He never lived in a big city. He never traveled 200 miles from the place where he was born. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but himself. He was only 33 when the tide of public opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied him. He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While he was dying, his executioners gambled for his garments, the only property he had on earth. When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave, through the pity of a friend. Twenty centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure of the human race. I am well within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned--put together--have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that one, solitary life.”

- Attributed to James Allen Francis on the life of Jesus Christ