The Paint You Cannot See
But it colors everything anyway.
You could hear a pin drop.
So much so that some of the parents had to whisper.
Watching these 9-year-olds quietly brush paint onto their canvases, you could feel it.
The way they focused on the symmetry.
The way they gently blended the pink into the purple just so.
The way they lost themselves in creating something beautiful without even realizing it.
It wasn’t perfectionism.
It was presence.
When a brush slipped or a line smudged, there was a small sigh, a soft "aww man."
But when the art teacher reminded them,
"There are no mistakes here, only masterpieces."
They just kept going.
No shame.
No drama.
Just moving along, trusting the process.
The Sweetest Kind of Friendship
Seven girls who didn’t even know my Eden at the start of the school year were now showing up for her in the most tender, beautiful ways.
They hug each other for no reason.
They share snacks without hesitation.
They plan the next play date before today’s even finished.
You know the feeling.
It’s time to go, but they’re begging for five more minutes.
(So now, I just start the countdown fifteen minutes early. I’m hip to the game)
Yesterday, my sweet Eden turned nine.
Nine years of growing, stretching, laughing, and figuring it out.
Nine years of learning who she is, and helping me remember who I am too.
And somehow, nine years into motherhood with a daughter,
I am still learning.
The Company You Keep Changes You
Julie Fratantoni, PhD, a cognitive neuroscientist, recently wrote about how the five closest people in your life actually change your brain without you even realizing it.
Standing there, watching these girls, watching my daughter love and be loved the way God intended, I understood why loving our neighbor as we love ourselves is one of His commandments.
Because friendships are not extra.
They are essential.
So much of life is either softened by good friends, or made harder by the absence of them.
Friendship is not a side dish to a good life.
It is part of the main course.
What Eden Reminded Me About Myself
I think about that for myself too.
How easy it is, as mothers, to let friendship slip to the side.
How busy we are.
How tired we are.
How much effort it feels like to initiate, to open up, to ask for five more minutes with someone who feels like home.
But watching Eden and her friends made me remember something:
We are still that girl inside.
We still need arms to run into.
We still need someone to giggle with over nothing.
We still need someone who will hand us half their cookie without even thinking about it.
Not because it is practical but because it is human.
Maybe Today Is the Day
Maybe today is a good day to text a friend you miss.
Maybe today is a good day to invite someone messy and real into your life again.
Because the truth is,
you were never meant to walk this road alone.
You were created for connection.
For hugs without reason.
For sharing without hesitation.
For friends who make the ordinary feel magical again.
If Eden can build that kind of love at nine, maybe we can be brave enough to build it too.
Even now.
Even here.
Even when it feels easier to just pack up and leave when the party’s over.
Keep making room for the friendships that feel like a masterpiece in progress.
Not perfect. Not polished.
Just real. Just right.
A little bit of heaven painted here on earth.
Journal Prompt:
1. Who in your life makes you feel safe enough to be unfinished?
2. Where in your life are you holding back from connection because you are afraid of being seen where you are still growing?
3. Are you building friendships that mirror who you are today or who you were afraid to outgrow?
Very inspirational as usual 👏 🙌 👌 🙏