There is  a lot you can do with paper. We were friends with a world renowned origami expert in California named Robert Lang, whose home is filled with unbelievable tiny insects, pipe organs and their players, and a rock climber who emerges from the wall he is ascending. He has designed air bags that fold neatly into their compartment and then burst open upon impact, and lenses compact enough to fit into a rocket that expand into telescopes in outer space. In his TED Talk he demonstrates how something small can emerge much larger. 

There is an origami flower pot that starts out the right size for a seedling, then expands with the plant as its root system stretches. What a lovely way to protect it in its beginnings, while anticipating future change. 

There was a group of wives who gathered for the day to discuss marriage. One woman described how her capacity to love her husband had opened up over time. She used her arms to try to convey what was happening inside her.

"God is asking me to love in a bigger and bigger way." I am not sure if she mentioned pain, but I heard it nonetheless.

Some of the mountain and valley folds in the origami that is my life have been large.

Can I love my mother even when she is manic?

Can I love my child even when he/she makes choices I don't like? 

Can I love my husband even when we feel distant?

A piece of paper does not know its own potential. The folder comes along, creasing and maneuvering the sheet in new directions. At times in a process that may have a thousand steps, the paper may seem close to another part of itself, then in one swift movement is far away. 

I am grateful that the Folder does not expect me to be big when I am only up for being small, yet does not settle for small when it is time for me to step into being big.