“If only I could freeze frame this moment!” I thought. The ocean was perfect. The gentle crash of ocean waves on a shoreline of smooth sand set against a cloudless sky. All was right. The worries of the week were erased, swept out to sea like the sandcastle at high tide. Faith seemed easy and belief a no-brainer as I looked out at the beauty surrounding me.
Freeze-frame (noun) a single frame of a film repeated to give an effect like a still photograph
I wanted my life to be a still photograph of that image. How seemingly easy it would be to have faith! To watch the tides from high to low; to walk the beach with a comfortable companion.
Back in the city the heat was greater and chaos seemed to accompany arrival. Kids so content just minutes before were suddenly arguing and the house seemed noisy and irritating. Where was the freeze-frame? How had the image changed in one car ride?
Freeze-frame faith. Being able to capture those moments, not to live in them, but to remember when life takes on different challenges. During the times we have had life-changing events it has helped me to write all the steps and the many miracles that went in to those events, a verbal freeze-frame to record moments. A freeze-frame to look back on as life takes a different direction and feels oh-so-hard.
And today I need this freeze-frame. I need the reminders of an ordered world so I can face one with chaos. I need the reminders of smooth sand and crashing waves so I can face city streets and crowded sidewalks. I need a freeze-frame faith.
Marilyn R. Gardner 