Today was a beautiful day. And in the middle of this day – a moment I hope I will remember forever. Those of you who know me well know I write much of this because of my terrible memory – as a way of remembering the blessings of the life we live because who knows if I will recall this stuff in five years! 🙂 So this isn’t so much inspirational, but is just a personal story of a great day in the life of my family.
Today we took a walk, Grace riding her bike – she only recently learned how to ride her bike and LOVES it. I was in front pushing Bekah, Grace followed on her bike with Justin guiding. You have to know that my little girl is SO social, so every person we pass Grace would smile, wave, and yell “Hi Friend!” And when she does that, her little bike goes immediately in the direction of her new friend, often off into grass or the street or wherever. So guiding her is a very important task and Justin did a great job.
At one point, Grace was lagging. I spun Bekah around and strolled her backwards so she could see Grace. They began squealing and talking back and forth. It was hilarious. Grace quickly picked up her pace.
So we FINALLY complete our ride (it takes us a very long time) and as soon as Grace peddles up to the garage, she takes her hands off the handlebars, claps and says “Yay! That was awesome!” She jumps off the bike and takes off her helmet. I am at the bottom of the driveway – about 20 yards away. She gets this HUGE smile on her face, throws her arms out, and runs towards me smiling and laughing. I pick her up and she curls up in my arms with her head on my shoulder and I walk back up to the house telling her how proud we are of her, how much we love her, what a big beautiful special wonderful girl she is and how blessed we are that she is our baby girl. It was a rare moment because if you know my child, although she does cuddle she is rarely still, so for her to cuddle close and stay while I took my time walking up to the house – well, it was priceless.
It was a beautiful day. At one point earlier today, when I was getting dressed to go outside I looked at my out of shape very pale legs and thought “If single athletic Jen saw married mom Jen she’d flip a lid.” And then this afternoon happened. I realized that of all the Jens I’ve ever been – the Jen I am this very moment is my favorite. I wouldn’t trade these days with my beautiful girls and my fantastic husband for anything in the world.
Let Hope Rise 
I love those special rare moments when you wish you could bottle it up and save it for a rainy day.
My first born is not a cuddler/snuggler/affectionate type at all. It breaks my heart that even when he’s sick or tired he’d rather be in his bed than in my arms being rocked and loved on. The other day I made a mess out of some batter and it got all over the floor and tile grout. I was sitting there moaning about what a chore it was going to be to get all this goopy mess off the tile when he walked up, looked me straight in the eyes and then leaned in for an unsolicited hug. I can count on two hands how many times he has hugged me in his short 21 months here on earth and this one was just amazing. He patted me tenderly on the back and lingered for about 8-10 seconds before letting go and then taking a seat in my lap. He babbled on pointing to the mess as to say “well what are we going to do about this?”.
I sometimes get so wrapped up in my to do’s or some sort of meaningless chore that I forget to just talk to him throughout the day. When I hear the Holy Spirit nudge me to be still and be with him we have the best time and suddenly he’s a different kid. The floors may need to be mopped, the bathtubs have seen cleaner days and by golly we might be behind on laundry but my kids will know my face and my voice and will know they are loved every time they leave my presence.
So yes, I totally soak up and relish the sweet moments that are few and far between.
i love this. it is so true that although i am always in the room with my kids, so often i am not present. such a great reminder. we won’t have this time for long – and i know we’ll miss it when it is gone. my prayer is that we have cherished every part of it while we have it.
what a precious moment with your little guy! i love those moments- sometimes kids just get when we are at the end of ourselves.
you are such a sweet friend and encouragement to me. i love being mom friends with you – it is seriously a gift to my heart. and i can’t say it enough – your husband blessed us with his talent. i reviewed the return today and holy cow – he was so detailed and such an advocate for us. seriously – totally blessed by your family.
thanks for writing! j