Kairos

So, lately I've had a serious itch to get more tattoos. It's been over 2 years since my last one and it's time for more. I am the kinda person who loves meaningful tattoos. No matter what I have on my body, if it's meaningful to me I will always love it. The tattoos I have now mean so much to me and I will never dislike them. I've been wanting to get the word "kairos" for some time and I think that it will soon be my new addition. Kairos is one of two words that the ancient Greeks used to refer to time. Chronos, as we all know is the minute by minute, hour by hour chronological order of time. Kairos, on the other hand is the word the Greeks used to refer to a special moment. The kind of moment when time stands still and you absorb those few fleeting seconds. In the New Testament kairos is considered God's time, or the appointed time when God acts.

For me kairos is when my ten month old grins at me with his big toothy smile. Or he presses his forehead against my forehead and closes his eyes as if he is also savoring the moment and closeness with me. It's when my 3 year old runs to kiss his brother and be silly to cheer him up and tells him "it's ok silly boy." It's when he wraps his arms around my neck and tells me I'm the best ever <3 Kairos is when I move him into his own bed at night and he sleepily kisses me on the cheek without even waking. It's when my husband comes home from a hitch offshore and my family is together again, safely and happily. Kairos is the moment I realize that Austin and I have been cuddling and talking uninterrupted long enough to really get lost in conversation. It's every moment that I know in my heart that I am exactly where I should be and life is exactly as it was meant to be.

Too often it is easy to let these moments pass with just a slight smile and no second thought. It's far too often that we let the truly beautiful pause in time go without much of a pause. Life, as I feel like I often write, gets in the way. I know it does for me. I know that some nights as I fall asleep I recall of a random part of the day and realize that I should have enjoyed it just a bit more. These tiny fragments of pure joy are like a glimpse into what I imagine heaven to be. Peace. Happiness. Love.

So, for me this tattoo will be a regular reminder to grab hold of the special moments, because after all, those moments are indeed God's time.