Perception and Reality

Last week I was at the playground in Heidelberg with my kids.  Now read that sentence again.  Unless you have lived in a foreign country with small children you might not grasp the vast meaning in this one sentence.  It means I packed five kids in the car and drove on foreign roads with foreign signs and tried to dodge the awful  “blitzers” (hidden cameras that catch you if you are speeding and leave an unpleasant bill in your mailbox a few days later).  It means I found a parking spot in a foreign city…which is a subject requiring another blog post.  It means I walked from my parking spot with five children in a country where having green hair is less conspicuous.  The sentence implies me settling for a moment on a bench and being surrounded by a sea of foreign languages as I watch my children play.  You get the point; a lot is packed into this sentence.   Now that you have a little more background let me once again begin.

LAST WEEK I WAS AT THE PLAYGROUND IN HEIDELBERG WITH MY KIDS.   I glanced over in the direction of the sandbox where my two year old was playing, and for a slit second thought that I saw the husband of a very special friend.  The resemblance was astonishing.  He was playing with a small boy that would have been just about the same age as my friend’s young son.  Everything fit.  The perception lasted a fraction of a second until another part of my brain interrupted and flooded me with reality.   What happened in that fraction of a second was astounding because in that moment it was my friend’s husband which meant she was close by.  The surge of assorted emotions spilling into my subconscious was astonishing.  I have returned to the very real way I felt in that moment many times during the last week.  I am grateful that perception and reality are generated in different parts of my brain so that I can experience these rare moments. 

I love the place God has me right now.  I experience so many other moments that last much longer and bring me so much delight.  I am surrounding by so many things that bring me so much joy.  Quite frankly though; there is a feeling I cannot escape.  I miss the people I left behind very, very much. 

So to everyone on the other side of the ocean I love and miss you all so very much!  I am grateful for the moment I experienced between perception and reality.  Maybe you will be blessed with one of these as well!  J