It's Really the Small Blessings

I often tell people that I'm so blessed. I have a wonderful husband, three precious children, a roof over my head and a car that works. While we don't have a ton of money, we are comfortable in our lifestyle. There's plenty of food on the table and we have many other things for which to be thankful.

But sometimes I forget about the small blessings in life. Yesterday morning, H slept until 8:20 am. That's not normal for him. Normal is 6:30 at the latest. That meant I got to sleep in, too. Mama always needs extra rest. That was a small blessing.

Then K came in my room around 7:45 (late for her as well) carrying her devotional that she got around Christmastime. She said, "Mama, you really need to read this. You will be so blessed by it." Those are her words, not mine. What was it? The Doxology. It tied into the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 with just a few fish and loaves of bread.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost
Amen

A hearty amen to that...

Quotable Quotes

L is probably my most quotable child. K comes up with stories, has a very vivid imagination and a tender heart. And since H really isn't talking just yet, L would be my most quotable child.

Well, we have another L gem of wisdom. This is after she came home from school and told me that her teacher read the story of Handsome and Gretel. Anyhoo, we were in the car the other day on the way home from school. K had gotten a treasure from the treasure box and L wanted to see it. K said no. L said, "Please let me see it." K, again, said no. "But K, God wants us to shay-yer!"

I just had to laugh!

And the One-Liners Just Keep Coming

This morning, at breakfast, K was talking about the freckle that L has on the palm of her hand. K said it was strange and L replied, "It's not strange!" I told L that is wasn't strange, it's unique, it makes her special. She said, "It's not special!" I said, "Yes it is. You are special because God made you that way." Her reply?

"God didn't make me special! God made me L_____!"

It's the Little Things

Earlier today, I posted about rest for the weary. I needed that today! And just when I thought I had to do everything, the girls go and surprise me. As I was putting them to bed and turning out the light, I noticed that they had very carefully laid out their clothes for tomorrow. I didn't tell them to do it, they just did it on their own, shoes included! It was the sweetest thing.

Conversations

I'm having a rough time this week with S gone for the third week in a row and there's no end in sight at the moment. I have more to say on this subject but it's late and I really want to make sure my words are clear. In the meantime, I had a conversation with K tonight that I really wanted to share.

Shortly after I put the girls in bed, I sat down in my room and just started to cry. I prayed for God to provide someone to talk to. K poked her head out of her room and this is pretty much how the conversation went:

"Mommy? Are you okay?"
"No, I'm not."
"What do you need?"
"I just need a hug."
"Well, I can give you a hug. Can I come give you a hug?" So she came and sat in my lap and gave me a hug. I continued to cry.
"I miss Daddy a whole bunch, Mommy."
"I do, too. It's hard for Mommy when he's not here."
"Well, your kids love you an awful lot and so does Daddy." That was exactly what she said.

That made even more tears fall.

The Girls and the Rain

In addition to my attempt at finding the beauty in simple things, I'm also trying to take some more time with the girls. I've been so bogged down in getting other things done that I often forget to have quality time with them. Even if it's just 10 minutes of reading or playing outside, I feel that they've gotten the short end of the stick this summer what with Mama being in the hospital twice and recovering from two resulting surgeries. So I took my camera outside the other day to enjoy the girls playing in the rain.

I will tell you that L is a lover of rain. She opened the back door, as it was pouring outside, and said, "Oh, Mama! Do you hear it? That's the rain! It sounds soooo good." She comes by it honestly as I love to watch rain and thunderstorms. This was inherited by my father who would rather sit out on the front porch and watch the storm blow through than to do just about anything else. Except golf. Which you shouldn't do in a thunderstorm anyway.

Yes, that's K wearing a robe and L wearing a princess dress...backwards.

God's Money

There was quite the discussion in our car yesterday on the way to church. Both girls had some money, K a dollar bill and L a penny or two, and were talking about it. L said, "This is God's money. We need to give it to Him." K said, "No it's not! It's mine! I collect it!"

Apparently, S had a conversation with L saying that the money was God's and He blesses us with it to use but we need to give it back to Him. He did not, however, have the same conversation with K so she was a bit lost. She said, "Well, I want to keep it because I collect it." What a thing to collect!