Popinjay: Free

I am a bit of a freebie junkie. Though not as big of a junkie as some other Twitter and bloggy peoples I know, (and though thankfully I have not crossed the line into hoarding) I do love some freebies!

Of course, very little in life is actually free. One could argue that even a free item from Freecycle or Craigslist requires the gas money to go fetch it. So this week’s Popinjay challenge made me question:

“What is free?”

My first and obvious answer would be “God’s love,” or “freedom from sin.” {Yes there was a cost involved but Christ paid it for me. I did not have to pay the debt I rightly owed and yet I get to experience these freedoms without paying.} I’m not quite sure how I’d capture that on camera, aside from taking a picture of my bible — which I’ve already done. So to avoid repeating myself and taking the easy road, I kept thinking.

What else is free?

There are the freebies in the mail, the free food samples at Sams…
There are coupons for free items and “free after rebates” and so on…
There are always free puppies and free kittens being given away in some Wal-Mart parking lot somewhere in America on any given weekend…

But none of these were really good enough for me. They’re bottom level free. I don’t know how to explain it. You know what I mean?

Hm, so what else is free?

I’d like to say that my husband’s love is free (or mine for him) but let’s be honest… love and marriage takes WORK! Even if it’s daily working to let go of the little things, to let of your pride, to practice forgiveness. Even if it’s working to arrange schedules to free up some time together to strengthen and build your relationship. Even if it’s daily spending time in prayer. This kind of work doesn’t have a monetary price, but it is the cost for a good strong marriage.

What is free?

In the end I could think of one thing that really symbolized “free” for me (besides the love of Christ of course). And that would be– the love of a child.

Our children love so freely. Even when we screw up they still love us. Yes, we need to spend time on them, too, and yes they need work, too, but the love of a child flows so freely without strings. Open. Trusting. With their whole heart. Perhaps this is why Jesus said that we should come to the kingdom of God as a small child??

I know that one day, as my children grow older, things will change. And how much is yet to be seen. But for now, my three babes are endless founts of hugs and kisses and “I love you”s.

My youngest, at four, is often precocious and fickle; how freely he hands out hugs and kisses changes on a whim. But not for me. There are always free kisses for me. Abundantly, overflowing, precious kisses.

FREE.

Visit Michelle for more Popinjay photos. (And yeah, I bent the rules! Unashamedly, too, I  might add.) =P