Blink of an eye

This post was inspired by a few words that Elise shared, in this post, that sent me into a panic. I felt a weight on me that I needed to get off. I have these moments that are so intensely ingrained into my mind and my heart and I never want to lose them. But I know, when dealing with the human mind, I will. So I frantically began writing so that I would not forget. So that I would have these moments forever. To hoard or to share. Forever."All of those seasons? They felt infinite. For better or worse, I was in them, forever. They stretched on and on and on. But now? In my memory those seasons are just moments. What felt like routine is now magic and special because it exists as only a blink.I want to remember the moments, little love. I want to remember every single one."-Elise Blaha Cripe from enJOYit I want to remember these moments and store them up for my own treasure chest of delights.....That time we were driving in Hawaii on our honeymoon to see the sunset at a secret cove and it felt like we were driving to the end of the world and I was scared we were going to run out of gas. The huge lava rocks lined the roads and it all felt surreal and when we got there it was like we had finally found the end of the earth and we were happy to stay there forever. That day I was little desperate when I started college and reached out to my old young life leader trying to make friends. She took me to coffee "and this other thing just really quick that you will like'. That was the day my whole life changed.All those trips to MFuge that kept pointing me to a job in human service and missions. I'm so glad I listened. Ziplining through the canopy of trees in Nicaragua feeling like I could die or be eaten by that monkey over there at any minute and feeling like I could fly.Sleeping on a futon mattress on the floor and eating meals in the floor the summer we got married in our new empty apartment. Every weekend of every summer that my family took our boat to the lake. I never want to forget how that giant grill weighed down the boat so much every 4th of July and my dad would still let us go tubing. And that feeling you get at the end of the day when you crawl in bed and everything still rocks and you know you were meant to be on the sea not land.The first morning I woke up wet from the storm that had found its way inside our tent and thought I had just ruined our lives for thinking we could camp our way across the entire country for a summer. Then a few weeks later realizing I had just set us off on the greatest adventure we would ever take as we drove through the middle of nowhere and the sky was really beautiful and blue and we were just happy. Those first moments of meeting new friends who will stay in your life forever. Like when you get cornered in the bathroom talking about wedding photography or you just say "don't worry I know you'll like our group so I'll just put you in it, trust me" or they just walk up and say "I'm gonna be friends with you guys ok."And those moments when you meet someone and say "yep I'll never talk to you again after this you weirdo" and they end up being the greatest people to ever walk into your life and stay forever. The weekend we first met and I just liked you and knew I would marry you. And I did. That moment when you're working kids camp and you cry and want to go home because it is the hardest, craziest thing you've ever done. I'll never forget a single second of that entire summer.When you step back and see 30 college students in your driveway eating hotdogs and have that tingly feeling like they all are about to change your life and you're terrified and nervous and excited all at once. The look on his little face when you give a kid a gift and you know they will keep it the rest of their lives and you know you will keep the bracelet they gave you for the rest of yours.That first week I had my driver's license and all my friends in the car with the windows down, music blaring and them yelling in the backseat. Then the cop pulls me over in my friends driveway. I was more scared of her dad than the cop. I want to remember that blue-black sky completely full of more stars than any sky has ever held before from that bus window driving up the mountain to our camp in Nicaragua that one night.That moment when you officially say yes to the job that will completely unravel everything you've ever known and then you just buy a soda and sit in the airport and wait on your flight home like everything is the same, but nothing ever will be again. But its ok because that's how you like it.The morning I woke up and opened the curtains and saw Korea sitting on that hill and looked at my future.