Is a picture truly worth a thousand words?

We have all heard the old adage, a picture is worth a thousand words, heard it so many times in fact that we probably cease to question its validity. But, as I was talking to a friend the other day and sharing with her that the photographs I had shared on facebook of our recent family camping trip most certainly DID NOT tell the whole story, I started thinking, for all the poetry in this sentiment, a picture really isn't worth a thousand words. Why? Because pictures are utterly silent, still. And life, real life, the vibrant, alive, noisy, dirty, exuberant life we are living right this very moment, is anything but silent, and most definitely not still.

For example, you see this picture. The only reason I was even able to snap this photo is that for 30 blessed seconds both of my sons were actually sitting and because that is such an incredible phenomenon in and of itself, I had to take a picture, just to remind myself that it actually did happen. But, an onlooker could justifiably think, "Oh, my, how blissful must their camping trips be! Such good boys reading quietly by the campfire. If only my hellions delightful children could behave like that!" Therein lies the dangers of social sharing. The happy, smiling pictures that we share on our timelines and instagram feeds show only HALF of the story. And, that is okay. In fact, that is more than okay, it is good! It is good to celebrate the happy times with our friends and family, to show our joys and adventures...but, it is also very important for all of us to remember, that this ain't the whole show folks. Here are a few examples of what this photo does not show:

Graham asking 5 minutes after we pulled out of the driveway to head to the campground just how long this was going to be and then proceeding to tell us every 5 minutes following that it was taking forever. Oh, and that he was pretty sure he had an upset tummy and was going to get carsick.

We were gone for only two days. I probably walked the boys to the bathroom 500 times during those two days. Sometimes for false alarms. Yeah. A port-a-potty is definitely in our future.

Liam threw the exact same fit that he throws at home just before dinner time. "I don't have to eat dinner, do I?" "Is it disgusting?" "Can I have a cookie instead?" "I really want a cookie!" "Waaaah!"

Graham, thought at first that he was going to be bored camping. He kept asking me what there was to do. Then he discovered catching baby fish in his bucket and loved it! Awesome! Then, that is ALL he wanted to do and when we did anything else kept asking us when we could go fishing. Heath and I thought we were going to go crazy!

My boys bickered. A lot. But, at least it was about different things than the usual things at home. At least it was fresh bickering.

I could go on. I won't. I could also go on about all the fabulous things that happened during our little trip. The delight in our little boys faces when they found a crawdad, roasting marshmallows and laughing at the goo stuck on our faces, mommy trying unsuccessfully to get in the top bunk of the van only to fall off every time so that everyone of us was laughing so hard we had tears in our eyes. I could go on and on about the stuff that makes every bit of the hardness of camping, of doing anything with little munchkins in tow, totally worth it.

My object of this post, though, was to remind myself, and possibly anyone else reading this, my two faithful readers, you know who you are and I love you! That no matter what the pictures look like, there is always a back story. Always. And, my life is no different from anyone else, and their life is no different from mine. We all have struggles, discontent, ugly stuff in our lives. But, we also have joys in abundance. And, so much to be thankful for.